Hotline Asia Urgent Appeals -- UA000313(4)

Action Requested || Sample Letter || Background
update

Summary

On 23 March 2000, the Government of Pakistan will announce a new policy for the electoral system. Local religious minorities in Pakistan have been requesting their government to abolish the current 'Separate Electorate System (SES)' and restore the 'Joint Electorate System (JES)'. Under the SES, citizens are not allowed to vote for candidates outside their own religious affiliation. That means Muslim voters can only vote for Muslim candidates while non-Muslim voters can only vote for non-Muslim candidates contesting for a few reserved seats. The SES produces discrimination between voters on ground of religion. For an Islamic country with 96 percent of the population Muslim, religious minorities are particularly cut off from the main stream. The SES clearly violates Article 25 of the 1973 Constitution which states that all citizens are equal. Additionally, on 28 February 2000, the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan recommended that the JES should be revived.

Local people believe that your solidarity support would help to restore the JES when electoral rule is eventually restored in Pakistan.

Please urgently write polite letters (preferably by email or fax) to the Government of Pakistan to express your deep concern about the separate electoral system in there and appeal to the government to:

1. abolish the Separate Electorate System and
2. restore the Joint Electorate System on the principle of the equality of all citizens.

Send Letters, Faxes or Emails to:

H.E. Pervaiz Mushraf,
Chief Executive of Pakistan
Chief Executive's Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: 92-51-9270205
E.mail: ce@pak.gov.pk

c.c. Copy to:

1. Mr. Aziz A. Munshi
Federal Minister of Law
S-Block, Pak Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: 92-51-9215852

2. Mr. Justice Ret. Abdulqadeer Chaudhry
Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan
4/F, Rm No. 404, S-Block, Pak Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: 92-51-9205402 / 9205300

3. Diplomatic representative of Pakistan in your country.

Sample Letter

Background

Religious minorities in Pakistan have been deprived of their rights to vote for all candidates regardless of religious affiliations under the current Separate Electorate System (SES). The SES was imposed by the military dictator, General Zia-Ul-Haq, in 1985. Religious minorities can neither vote for Muslim candidates of their constituency nor can they stand as candidates for the Muslim electorate. This system produces discrimination between voters on grounds of religion. It also creates and reinforces divisions among citizens. For an Islamic country with 96 percent of the population Muslim, religious minorities are particularly cut off from the main stream. This affects their direct participation in national decision making processes.

Article 25 of the 1973 Constitution clearly declares that all citizens are equal. The SES, however, denies the equal status of citizenship to religious minorities as well as the fundamental right of universal adult franchise.

On the other hand, there are only a few numbers of seats provided for religious minorities in the various legislatures of the country. According to the Constitution, 207 seats are reserved for Muslim members in the National Assembly. Only ten seats are provided for religious minorities (4 for Hindus, 4 for Christians, 1 for Ahmadies, Parsees and 1 for other religions) out of a total of 217 seats. Similarly the four provinces of the country only provide 23 seats for religious minorities; out of a total of 483 seats in all the provincial assemblies. The distribution of the number of seats according to religious affiliation distorts the principle of representation from the whole country. It also makes every minority member of the respective assemblies a political rival of the other. Therefore these so-called minority representatives could never unite even on issues that mean life and death for their communities. The representatives whom minorities elect effectively do not have any say in the legislation so the minorities are effectively voiceless.

Local religious minorities believe that the SES was introduced by the military for the purpose of representing non-Muslims in Pakistan as "Zimmis" or second class citizens. Successive governments in Pakistan have followed other discriminatory policies that have prevented non-Muslims from holding key positions in the civil services and in the superior judiciary. In fact, the SES has undermined the social fabric, resulting in religious minorities suffering the worst social, political and economic loss. Religious minorities have continuously recorded their resentment of the injustice several times ever since the SES was promulgated. Many writ petitions had been filed but only two of them were heard; the rest being rejected.

Please remember to send copies of your letters to Hotline Asia for monitoring purpose.
Thank you for Your Continued Support!!