Graduation condition deprives 97 % of population from contesting elections: AG, ISLAMABAD, April 18 (APP):
Attorney
General Malik Mohammad Qayyum Friday told the Supreme Court that the
graduation condition has deprived about 97 per cent population of the
country from contesting elections, which is contrary to the fundamental
rights guaranteed in various articles of the Constitution.
Only
1.4 percent of the country's 160 million people and less than four
percent of 68.1 million total registered voters were graduates, he said
during the hearing of a petition challenging the graduation condition.
The restriction was imposed through an "extra constitutional
legislation", he said and gave various references in favour of the
petition seeking removal of the graduation condition for contesting
elections. The condition will create a new class of rulers and "elite
democracy," he said adding that surprisingly one who did not have the
B.A. degree could cast vote but could not contest election.
The
seven-member bench directed the Attorney General to submit complete
data about total population, registered voters and registered
graduates, especially province-wise, at the next hearing on Monday.
Kamran Murtaza advocate, representing the petitioners Nasir Mehmood and
Shameer Ahmed, said that the condition was imposed through an ordinance
amending the Representation of Peoples Act and was only meant for
general elections held in October 2002. Chief Justice Abdul Hameed
Dogar who heads the bench observed that the condition of graduation was
not included in Articles 62 and 63, which relates to the qualification
and disqualification of a candidate to become member of the Parliament
and provincial assemblies. Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokhar observed that
the ordinance was given protection in Article 270 AA of the
Constitution through 17th Amendment.
The bench asked the
counsel to prove first that the restriction affects the fundamental
rights and that the petition relates to public interest. Justice Faqir
Muhammad Khokhar also observed that special seats were allocated for
graduates in India but non graduates could also contest election.
Earlier, Mohammad Aslam Khaki submitted a Civil Miscellaneous
Application (CMA) pleading that the legislation for imposing condition
of graduation was a right legislation and it should stay as every job
or profession requires certain qualifications. The bench allowed the
CMA of Aslam Khaki and permitted him to argue the case on Monday after
the competition of arguments of Kamran Murtaza
Also in another
news item (Jung News), news media says that the success of Qayyum in
the graduation degree case will enable PPP chief Asif Ali Zardari to
contest the by-polls as according to some reports Zardari is not a
graduate degree holder.
However, PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar
told The News that that the condition of graduation degree as
pre-requisite to contest the by-elections would be eradicated as part
of Charter of Democracy (CoD) between the PPP and PML-N.
"We
believe that Asif Ali Zardari is a graduate. He has taken a certificate
from an institute of London and that, according to our understanding,
is equivalent to a graduation degree in Pakistan. However, Asif Zardari
hasn't acquired a required equivalence certificate needed to prove him
a graduate in Pakistan for contesting the election as it was never
needed."
The equivalence certificate will be obtained in due
course of time if needed to be presented before the Election Commission
of Pakistan (ECP). When asked that according to a report the concerned
institute in London had denied that any certificate was ever issued in
the name of Asif Ali Zardari, Babar said, "We have asked the concerned
institute to send us all the documents of Asif Ali Zardari's
qualification and those will reach here in a few days."I can tell you
one important thing that Asif Ali Zardari hasn't made a final decision
to contest the elections yet, and maybe he decides not to contest the
by-elections at all," he added.
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