The indirect method

The decision by the provincial administrations of both Sindh and Punjab to conduct local government (LG) elections for minorities through an indirect system is, in many ways, an unfortunate one. LG elections in the past have been conducted with a direct ballot given to minority groups. This time, however, this right has been denied to minorities. In the Sindh Local Government Act of 2015, the members elected on general seats will elect minority candidates on reserved seats through secret balloting. The law in Punjab has similar provisions when it comes to the election of minorities.

Minority leaders in Karachi and other cities have said that this essentially has denied their communities the right to freely choose their representatives. The argument also goes that the method will give ruling parties in the provinces greater room to manoeuvre results of the LG polls in their favour. We need to hear a little more from the provincial government as to why this method is being adopted. In the past, it has proved possible to avoid it. While the need to simplify the electoral process and make it more manageable has been cited, this should not happen at the cost of depriving minority groups of their basic rights. The right to vote in representatives directly is among these. The provisions in both provincial LG laws need to be re-examined in some detail. Members of the MQM have already spoken out against it and said they are willing to give general seats to members of the Christian community in areas of Karachi where the Christians constitute more than 10 per cent of the population. The problem this issue highlights is an especially acute one in a country already suffering from divisions based on faith and beliefs. The need is to integrate people and bring them together rather than to create further divisions and pull them apart. The fact that minority groups are disgruntled will not go in our favour and will act to push them further away from the mainstream of political events in the country, thereby isolating them still further.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th,  2015.

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