The Hindu : Poll candidates should be at least graduates: Musharraf

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 23, 2002

International

International

Poll candidates should be at least graduates: Musharraf

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD June 22 . The Musharraf Government today prescribed graduation as the minimum qualification for all those who intend to contest the proposed general elections to the National and Provincial Assemblies in October this year.

The Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, in his capacity as the Chief Executive signed an order to the effect.

Political and non-governmental organisations had vehemently opposed the proposal on the ground that, in effect, the provision disqualifies nearly 90 per cent of the citizens in the country from contesting elections to the national and provincial assemblies. According to estimates, nearly 50 per cent of the members in the dissolved National and Provincial Assemblies would no longer be in a position to contest elections unless they obtained graduation degrees.

Several political observers and commentaries in Pakistan view the move as an effort to gain effective control over the new National and Provincial Assemblies. Besides introduction of the new qualification to contest elections, the Musharraf Government has already announced a certain quota of seats for women and technocrats.

In the next few days, Gen. Musharraf is expected to unveil a package of constitutional reforms for public debate. Even before the package has been made public, it has triggered a major controversy with the political parties and a section of the civil society questioning the competence of the military government to amend the Constitution.

If the leaks in a section of the press are an indication, the proposed amendments in the Constitution are expected to bestow sweeping powers on the President. In other words, if Gen. Musharraf succeeds in pushing through the amendments, he could as well go down as the most powerful President Pakistan has ever seen since its birth in 1947.

The amendments envisaged include powers to the President to dismiss the Prime Minister, dissolve the National and Provincial Assemblies and constitution of an all-powerful National Security Council with dominant role for the Army. To be presided over by the President, the Council would be a `super government' and would institutionalise the role of the Army in all vital matters of governance.

Gen. Musharraf has already declared that the future government would not have the powers to reverse the political and economic reforms initiated by his regime. In the course of the campaign for the controversial April 30 referendum, through which he was deemed to have been elected President for a further period of five years, Gen. Musharraf had repeatedly said that the future Prime Minister who acted against `national interest' would face dismissal.

In an interview to the BBC, Gen. Musharraf has said that he planned to delegate power to run the day-to-day government to the Prime Minister but would retain the authority to keep a watch on the elected government and dismiss it if necessary.

Promising "fairest'' elections, Gen. Musharraf complained that some people were already preparing grounds to declare the elections as unfair. "That is the unfortunate part. The only thing that I can do is to ensure that they will be very fair. Secondly, I will invite anybody from outside, any observer to come and see what is happening. That is the maximum I can do. But I know that people will talk against it," he said.

``After the October polls, as far as I am concerned, the Prime Minister will be all powerful'', he said adding that the Prime Minister will have powers to build dams and carry out other development activities.

``I am taking all those decisions as the Chief Executive. I am going to give up all that. The real powers will be devolved to Prime Minister. But as the President, I will retain the authority to have a watch on him. And the power to dismiss the Cabinet or the Assembly is not power. Power is to run the government," he added.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

Stories in this Section

Infiltrations should end permanently: U.S.

'Pak. will persuade India to resume talks'

Pressure on Musharraf to review `old Kashmir policy'

Eight provinces rocked

Mahathir briefly shocks his nation

Poll candidates should be at least graduates: Musharraf

'Negative effect on India's stature'

'Half a billion could die in an Indo-Pak. n-war'

Bush under pressure to delay move

E.U. agrees to curb illegal immigration

Mayor of London hit by scandal

Arafat statement aimed at pleasing U.S.