With Pakistan set to go for general elections on July 25, a study has revealed that a huge spike in the number of non-Muslim voters in the country. According to a report in Pakistan-based Dawn News, the number of non-Muslim voters has increased from 2.77 million in 2013 to 3.63 million this year, which is a rise of 30 per cent.
The report further said that among the non-Muslim voters, referred to as minorities, the highest number of voters are Hindus. However, in 2013 Hindus constituted half the number of non-Muslim voters in Pakistan, but it’s not the same this time.
Total number of Hindu voters in 2013 was 1.40 million whereas it stands at 1.77 million in 2018. However, the rise in non-Hindu minority voters has been more.
Dawn report further said that the second largest group of non-Muslim voters were Christians. There are 1.64 million Christians who are entitled to vote in the upcoming general elections. The rise in the number of Christian voters has been significantly more than the Hindus.
The number of Parsi voters has also gone up in Pakistan, reported Dawn.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in a formal letter last week had proposed the president to grant permission to hold the election between July 25 and 27, following which the date for the elections was declared.
According to the law, ECP proposes dates to the president to organize general elections, who is empowered to fix the final date.
The present government will complete the tenure on May 31 and the caretaker government will take over form June 1 and remain in office until a new government is set up through elections. It is the second consecutive elected government that is poised to complete the five-year tenure. It was elected in 2013.