ISLAMABAD, Jan 3: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said his government is mulling a proposal of granting voting rights to the Pakistani expatriates and studying cases of other countries that have already provided this facility to their nationals.

The prime minister was talking to James Shera, former mayor of Rugby, who called on him at the Prime Minister’s House here on Saturday.

Referring to his government’s initiatives for welfare of minorities in Pakistan, the prime minister said that all measures were being taken to protect their rights and to ensure their equal status in the Muslim majority country.

In response to the points raised by Mr Shera, the prime minister directed the authorities for facilitating swift remittances by overseas Pakistanis through banking channels at a lower cost, lowering by 50 per cent the registration fee on purchase of property in Pakistan and putting in place a system under which they could get their property vacated from tenants at a notice of three months.

He welcomed Mr Shera’s proposal for inviting notable expatriates to Pakistan every year to a conference to seek their support for lobbying abroad for Pakistan and to attract investment in the country.

Mr Shera welcomed an announcement by the prime minister to grant 5 per cent quota to minorities in government jobs, plans to increase the number of minorities’ seats in the national and provincial assemblies and allocation of seats for them in the Senate.

Mr Shera also appreciated a decision to appoint a representative of minorities as the federal minister for minorities.

Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti was also present during the meeting.