Pakistani Christians demand representation in local government
Centre for Social Justice supports their call for the revival of the local government system in Punjab
Minister of Human Rights and Minority Affairs Ijaz Alam Augustine (center) attends the Centre for Social Justice’s program for minority councilors on July 3. (Photo: CSJ)
Christian councilors from Pakistan s Punjab are calling for the revival of the local government system in the province after it was dissolved four months ago.
The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) supported their demand at a July 3 convention on Empowering Local Minorities’ Representation to underline the issues faced by representatives of religious minorities. The CSJ also formed social media groups of the 60 councilors from 10 districts of Punjab.
February 28, 2021
The PTI fears a repeat of the previous elections when several party members had refrained from voting for their party’s candidates
The upcoming Senate elections have become a challenge for the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI). The party fears a repeat of the previous elections when several party parliamentarians did not vote for its candidates. In the end, twenty MPAs were expelled from the party. There is also infighting and dissatisfaction with some nominations. Party leaders, however, have said that the disputes will be resolved soon.
The PTI government’s bid to hold Senate elections through a show of hands rather than secret ballot and its choice of first a reference to the Supreme Court and then an ordinance to change the rules, has attracted much comment. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the matter just ahead of the polling schedule. The PTI leaders claim that they want to introduce this method to stop corruption and use of money to buy votes.