August 25, 2008	Monday	Sha'aban 22, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Aug 24: Members belonging to minority communities in parliament and provincial assemblies have decided to support PPP’s presidential candidate Asif Ali Zardari.

This was announced by chairman of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance Shahbaz Bhatti at a press conference.

Mr Bhatti, who is a member of the National Assembly, said that election of Mr Zardari would promote national unity and democratic culture, end the sense of alienation in smaller provinces and solve problems of women and minorities.

He was accompanied by Punjab MPAs Najmi Saleem, Tahir Naveed Chaudhry and Pervez Rafiq, Balochistan MPA Jaffar George and NWFP MPA Prince Javed.

Sindh Assembly member Saleem Khurshid Khokar was to attend the press conference but he could not because of a flight delay.

Mr Bhatti called for repealing discriminatory laws against minorities and expressed the hope that Mr Zardari as president would get amended or repealed Articles 42 and 91 of the Constitution which barred non-Muslims from becoming

a candidate for offices of the president and the prime minister.

He said the bar was undemocratic, discriminatory and an insult to sacrifices rendered by minorities for the country since independence.

He, however, made it clear that this support for Mr Zardari was unconditional.

He said that at a time when the country was facing external and internal threats and there was need for harmony among state institutions, the election of Mr Zardari as president would help end the politics of confrontation.

It would also ensure harmonious relations between the government and the President House, he added.

Mr Bhatti said that presidency was the right of the PPP because it was the largest political party and conspiracies could be hatched against democracy if a person belonging to another party became president.

He praised the political acumen demonstrated by Mr Zardari since Feb 18 elections and said the PPP co-chairman had united all democratic forces and promoted the politics of tolerance and reconciliation.