Ruling General Pervez Musharraf has promised to establish democracy before October 2002. But the National Justice and Peace Commission, affiliated to the Episcopal Conference of Pakistan, described the electoral system in existence as «immoral, unconstitutional and illogical.»
The voting method in the Wednesday elections allows citizens to choose their own representatives according to their religious affiliation. Non-Muslim minorities have a restricted number of candidates from which to choose.
Ministers of the Commonwealth, from which Pakistan was excluded following the coup 17 months ago, have also been skeptical about Musharraf´s conduct. In a statement published Tuesday, they criticized «the restrictions to democratic activity imposed by Islamabad.»
