Communitarian demands: Direct election, dual vote proposed for non-Muslims

Zia ostracised religious minorities: Bhatti

LAHORE: Former federal minister Paul Bhatti on Friday called for religious minorities’ representatives to be elected instead of being nominated.

Bhatti, a brother of slain erstwhile minister Shahbaz Bhatti, made the remarks while speaking to journalists. He said a dual voting system ought to be enshrined for minorities nationwide. Bhatti proposed that minorities be allowed to elect their representatives. He said a mechanism could be evolved to this effect with the assistance of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

“Ten seats are reserved for minorities in the National Assembly. Virtually all such lawmakers have been nominated by the respective heads of their parties. Most of them have never served minorities. They do not truly represent them as they are unelected. Many just aim to please higher-ups,” Bhatti said. He said that while they enjoyed all perks that came with holding public office many did nothing for groups they were ostensibly supposed to represent.

The former federal minister said it was a travesty that even minorities could not hold them accountable. “If minorities are afforded the dual vote, they will be held accountable and things will take a turn for the better,” he said.

Bhatti said former president Ziaul Haq had left minorities ostracised by introducing separate electorates. “Mainstream politicians did not even bother to hear what minorities had to say thereafter,” he said. Later, Bhatti said, former president Pervez Musharraf had given heads of political parties the power to nominate minorities’ representatives.

The former federal minister said the practice had proved to be counterproductive. “In some cases, party heads even nominated domestic help for such seats,” he said. Bhatti said this had to change.

The former federal minister, the chairman of the All-Pakistan Minorities Alliance, said seats for minorities’ representatives could be delineated in accordance with their district-wise population instead of nominating them on provincial basis. Bhatti demanded the National Harmony Ministry to be revived. “It can do great work. The ministry can unite minorities on a single platform. As its minister, I presented a bill calling for National Assembly seats to be increased. It has been lying pending. Seats for minorities should be increased. The ministry was abolished in the name of austerity,” he said.

Bhatti said a constitutional bar preventing non-Muslims from becoming the president or the prime minister ought to be repealed. “Shahbaz (Bhatti) secured a five-percent reservation for minorities in 2009. Some provinces have failed to implement the quota. Its implementation should be ensured. Separately, students from the minorities who obtain religious education should be award 20 extra marks in parity with those who commit the Holy Quran to memory.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2016.