USA: 32 US lawmakers will not endorse Pakistan's May elections without Ahmadis on joint electorate

Ahmadiyya Times

A joint letter signed by 32 members of the U.S. Congress to U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, underscored lawmakers' concerns about the denial of Ahmadi voting rights in Pakistan. The 32 lawmakers, the letter bluntly says, cannot accept the May election results if Ahmadis are not also included as part of Pakistan's joint electorate. "Absent the ability of Pakistan's entire electorate to participate, we will not be able to endorse the May election," the letter warned. Ahmadis cannot freely vote in Pakistan due to the discriminatory processes introduced in the election related laws which climaxed during the regime of former dictator General Pervez Musharraf. In 2002 Gen. Musharraf cowed to Islamists' demands and issued a Presidential Executive Order, effectively barring Ahmadis from participating in the election process. Executive Order No. 15 of 2002 excluded Ahmadis from the country's joint voter roll, requiring they be registered on a supplementary voter roll, and necessitated that Ahmadis must sign a declaration to renounce their faith in Islamic tenets. In the letter dated April 16, 2013, the lawmakers impressed upon Secretary Kerry saying, "we cannot stand idly by and allow four million Ahamdis to remain disenfranchised and outside the electoral process." "You have a unique opportunity to advocate on behalf of an entire segment of Pakistani society which has long been marginalized and oppressed," the latter further advised Secretary Kerry. The letter asks Secretary Kerry to 'press' Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari to immediately repeal Executive Order No. 15 of 2002. Through Secretary Kerry, the lawmakers reminded President Zardari that with the historical successful completion of a term of democratically elected government, he has a unique opportunity to remove discriminatory voting restrictions on Ahmadis.