Elections in Pakistan: the concerns of minorities

While former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, considered the favourite to win the February general elections, will only start his campaign next week, the Centre for Social Justice organised a conference on the participation of minorities in the elections and the broken promises of the last legislature on the political inclusion of minorities and anti-discrimination

Lahore (AsiaNews) - The general elections of February 8 are approaching in Pakistan and less than a month later the Center for Social Justice (CSJ) and the Minority Forum Pakistan have organized a conference in Lahore entitled "Effective participation of minorities in elections ", during which the representatives of the political parties presented the position of their respective political formations on the subject of minority rights.

Habqooq Gill, Christian candidate of the Provincial Assembly of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) - founded by former Prime Minister Imran Khan - said that their election campaign contains several points that address the real problems of minorities. “Being part of the assembly after the elections, I will raise these demands in the assembly, whether I am in the opposition or in the ruling party. I will do my best to protect minorities."

On the other hand, Tariq Javed Tariq, Christian assembly candidate for the Pakistan Muslim League (N) stated that, "although the voices of minority candidates are less privileged in the party, we must ensure that members of the Muslim majority collaborate with us . Without cooperation between the elected members we will not be able to solve the problems of minorities and enact adequate laws for this purpose."

Zia uddin Ansari of the Ameer Jamaat Islami, an Islamist political party, added that on her part and her political movement "there is the intention to carry out effective struggles to put an end to religious divisions and make people live in a progressive Pakistan. Only national unity – he added – can put an end to extremism”.

At the end of the work, Nasir William of the CSJ presented the results of the report “Promises to Keep & Miles to Go” regarding the evaluation of the maintenance of commitments on minority rights contained in the electoral manifestos and stated that the political parties have not succeeded in the legislature which ends up taking effective action to maintain what was said before the elections.

However, less than a month before the vote, the electoral campaign is still effectively at a standstill. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose PML-N party is considered one of the favorites to win February's general elections, will only start his campaign next week, the day after the Supreme Court ruling that allowed him to run for a fourth term.

Analysts believe the South Asian nation's powerful military threw its support behind Sharif after being locked in a stalemate with former cricket star Khan, winner of the 2018 elections. “This gives Sharif a advantage in a country where it is mainly army generals who decide whether to create or destroy governments,” explains Michael Kugelman, a South Asia specialist at the Washington think tank Wilson Center.

Sharif's party spokeswoman, Marriyum Aurangzeb, did not respond to any questions about ties to the army. The two largest parties, the PML-N and Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), have yet to start their election campaigns four weeks before the elections.

In this uncertain political framework, the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce in a statement asked the future government to lower customs tariffs "which will cause huge losses in the trade sector between the two sides in the future" in the trade route between Kabul and Islamabad.

• Pakistan
• elections 2024
• minorities