Church promotes secular democracy
Lahore (AsiaNews) -Eighty human rights activists, religious and political leaders gathered last Jan. 11 to address pressing issues in a country whose democratic processes are impeded by multi-ethnic and inter-faith bias, limited education, and non-participation in elections.
"Propagation of Democracy in Pakistan" was the topic of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Pakistan's National Commission for Peace and Justice (NCJP). The inter-religious gathering was the 10th of its kind, held at the United Pentecostal Church outside Pakka Qilla Kasur, near the city of Lahore.
Among the key-note speakers was NJCP program coordinator, Samson Salamat, who said it was a high priority for Pakistanis to register as voters and obtain ID cards "if they want to actively participate in the country's democracy." According to Samson, the passive citizenry is not accustomed to full and unhampered democracy, blaming the military dictatorship that has ruled the country for 30 of its 56 years of existence.
He said the country's multi-ethnic/religious population must begin accepting that true democracy is run "by the people, for the people and with the people". In his speech Samson said conference members must hold to 5 principles inherent to democracy: all citizens are equal despite their faith or ethnic background; no single individual can decide the fate of all; all laws treat citizens equally; equal opportunity is given to all; and politics and religion must be separate in State and Church affairs.
Amjid Ali, the Muslim chairman of the Free Justice Front (FJF), spoke about the need to proactively increase awareness of democracy's rights and privileges. He said that since 1998 FJF has launched a campaign to inform citizens through seminars, lectures and press conferences. He said that during the 2002 general elections FJF lobbied provincial and national assembly candidates, asking them to abolish discriminatory laws if elected.
Also speaking was NCJP executive secretary, Peter Jacob, who urged everyone to vote for the candidate who promises to uphold equal rights in the Constitution, to be a "voice of the voiceless", despite his ethnic background or creed.
However, Fr. Inayat Bernard, Kasur's parish priest, in speaking before the commission stressed that citizens should be aware of changes in voting rights after the restoration of the Joint Electorates, since President Musharraf abolished the Separate Electoral System in 2002.
Christians form a small fraction of Pakistan's 143 million inhabitants, just 2% (75% are Sunni Muslims and 20% Shiites). The separate electoral system, which they continued to fight against, penalized them even more in terms of full participation in democratic processes.
Before 2002, elections were held on the basis of separate electorates in which Muslims and non-Muslims could vote only for their own respective minority national and provincial assembly leaders. Government officials claimed that this system was designed to ensure minority representation, a form of "affirmative action" in Parliament and local government. Ethic and religious minorities applauded the president's Jan. 16 2002 abolishment of the bipartite electoral system and the creation a joint electoral system in which citizens could vote for any candidate, despite his race or creed.
Still, some foreign NGOs supporting open secular democracy, like the US-based Human Rights Watch, remain critical. In its 2003 World Report, Human Rights Watch states after Musharraf promulgated the Legal Framework Order (LFO) on Aug. 24 2002, a polemical set of constitutional amendments resulted: increasing the powers of the president, yet limiting those of elected representatives, and formalizing the role of the army in the government. According to the same report, the LFO also required all members of National Assembly and Senate to have university degrees, thereby barring all but a fraction of the largely uneducated citizenry from holding parliamentary seats and promoting an elite system of power. (IB)
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21/06/2021 09:43
