Lahore (AsiaNews) – For the first time in more than 60 years of history Pakistan’s religious minorities will be represented in the upper house of parliament, the Senate. Reserved seats in national and provincial assemblies will also be increased. The decision is part of a package of constitutional reforms tabled by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

Speaking to AsiaNews Archbishop Lawrence John Saldanha, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, has welcomed the decision which has called “hope for change.”

For the archbishop of Lahore minorities needed “representation in Senate,” and this was a good step for the government, which would “provide us a new opportunity to raise our voice” at each level of decision-making. Although “opposition is very strong, let’s hope for the good,” he said.

The proposed reforms are “an answer to the firm campaign of All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) at all levels through seminars, workshops, negotiations with politicians and protests. We are pleased with the historic decision by the PPP government which fulfils a long standing demand by the country’s minorities,” Shahbaz Bhatti, a Catholic Member of parliament and APMA president, told AsiaNews.