Punjab govt gives in, Christian minister to present budget

Local, international pressure forces PML-N to change stance.

LAHORE:

After being criticised for its treatment towards non-Muslims, the Punjab government on Wednesday reversed an earlier notification and said Christian cabinet member Kamran Michael will present the provincial budget due on June 10.

Following increasing pressure both nationally and internationally, the Punjab government superseded a former notification that removed the only Christian member of the assembly from additional charge of finance and planning and development department.  On June 7, Excise and Education Minister Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman was appointed in his place to present the budget.

Michael, a member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, is the provincial minister for human rights and minorities and was given the additional charge of finance and planning and development by party chief Nawaz Sharif in March this year.

As the date for the Punjab budget approached, Sharif, following criticism within the party over Micheal’s religious background, withdrew the additional charge from the minister and assigned Rehman to present the budget.

According to people within the PML-N, a majority of party members were against Michael presenting the budget and feared that a Christian lawmaker’s representation would affect their conservative vote bank in Punjab.

Sources in the Punjab government told The Express Tribune that international and local pressure forced Sharif to change his stance towards the minister.

The officials said that Sharif had been warned that although the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said it would not disturb the budget speech, the decision to replace a Christian with a Muslim would give the ruling party a reason to create unrest.

The All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) on Wednesday issued a press release condemning Sharif’s act of barring Michael to present the budget.  Chief of APML and former president Pervez Musharraf also spoke to the foreign media condemning the action.

Sources familiar with the matter said Nawaz Sharif discussed the growing criticism against the party with senior party leaders, who agreed to give the finance, planning and development portfolio back to Michael. They said that the PML-N feared Musharraf’s remarks in interviews to US and UK media in which the party has been called the biggest supporter of Taliban in Pakistan.

A PPP MPA on reserved seat Tahir Naveed Ch Advocate told The Express Tribune that all minority members had conveyed their strong reservations over replacement of Michael and threatened Sharif that if he does not change his decision a strong protest would be lodged in the budget session.







Published in The Express Tribune, June 9th, 2011.