Christians call for a boycott to protest against discrimination

The eight most important Christian parties in Pakistan called for a boycott of the parliamentary elections on Saturday. "The elections are violating the basic democratic rights of the religious minorities and are not worthy of a democracy," said the Asia-expert of the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Friday. "Christians and other religious minorities are not allowed to vote for their representatives."

The religious minorities will be represented in parliament by ten delegates, but the members of their religious communities cannot vote for them: They will be hand-picked by Muslim deputies after the elections. On Friday, the STP urged the UN Human Rights Council to raise objections against the discrimination and to demand active and passive voting rights for religious minorities and for women.

"Of course it is a good thing that a government in Pakistan managed not to be overthrown by the army and not to be replaced for other reasons before the end of the legislature – for the first time ever," said Delius, "but these elections are still not to be seen as a milestone for the democratization of Pakistan." Apart form the Christians, the Ahmadiyyah, Sikhs and Hindus, it is also the women who are generally not allowed to vote for their own candidates. In 2002, military dictator Pervez Musharraf had not only introduced the minority quota, but also decided that women will be represented in parliament with 60 female representatives. However, they will also be chosen by the Muslim deputies at desired.

The Christian parties are also calling for the boycott to protest against the lack of support for the abolition of the controversial blasphemy laws in Pakistan's penal code. During the election campaigns, most of the major political parties had emphasized that all humans are equal and nobody should be discriminated against – but they remained silent about the blasphemy laws, which especially the Christians and the Ahmadiyyah are trying to abolish. "As long as the blasphemy laws exist, they are an open door for arbitrariness and violence against the Christians in Pakistan," criticized Delius. "It is appalling that none of the important political parties in Pakistan dares to oppose the radical Islamists in order to put an end to this madness."