ASIA/PAKISTAN - Anxiously waiting for the revoke of the state of emergency, Pakistanis prepare for January elections

Islamabad (Agenzia Fides) - While the country waits anxiously for the revocation of the state of emergency which President Musharraf said will end on 16 December, Pakistani Christians continue to promote initiatives to foster respect for democracy and human freedoms and rights. Moreover in view of elections in January, the local Catholic community has launched an awareness campaign to demand a change in Pakistan's discriminating voting system.
After handing over command of the army, Musharraf, in his first address as a civil president, announced the date of the end of the state of emergency and defended his policies which, he said, enabled the nation to remain united and not give in "to pressure of terrorism and the judiciary system”.
In the situation of tension, Christians have sought to promote reconciliation called for respect for human rights and freedoms, and democratic rule. The Catholic Bishops of Pakistan, who issued an official statement calling for the state of emergency to be revoked, received a letter of solidarity from the Catholic Bishops of the United States.
In the meantime Pakistanis are thinking about the elections in January. While some democratic parities have threatened to boycott the vote to protest against Musharraf, for religious minorities Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs the upcoming election is another opportunity to denounce the country's discriminating voting system.
Twenty years ago the voting system was divided into 5 groups, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Ahmadi and a group to include Sikhs, Hindus Buddhists and Parse and a limited number of seats in the national assembly was assigned to the non Muslim minority groups. It was also established that citizens could only vote for candidates of their own religion. In 2002 President Musharraf succeeded in making a slight change in the law which now enables non Muslim citizens to vote for Muslim candidates, because of pressure from Muslim extremists but he failed to abolish the rule altogether. Non Muslim citizens cannot be members of the senate.
The Catholic Church in Pakistan has always denounced this situation, calling for secular voting rules which consider all citizens equal, as electors, regardless of their religion. The president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Pakistan, Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha, described the system as “evil and discriminatory”. In the weeks leading up to the elections, with the support of the other religious communities and groups of moderate Muslims the local Catholic community is organising debates and meetings in view of an official request for a reform of the voting system.
(PA) (Agenzia Fides 13/12/2007 righe 32 parole 328)