By Muhammad Najeeb, IANS
Islamabad : Pakistan’s Election Commission has amended rules governing presidential nominees to pave the way for President Pervez Musharraf’s re-election for five more years. A furious opposition Sunday reacted angrily and demanded a new poll panel.
“The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) has amended the rules and now President Musharraf is very much eligible to contest for another five-year term,” Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sher Afgan told IANS.
The controversial decision, which removes a major hurdle on the path of Musharraf’s presidential ambitions, sparked strong condemnation from opposition parties.
The All Parties Democratic Alliance (APDM) demanded reconstitution of the Election Commission saying the body had become controversial, biased and partial by amending the rules for presidential elections.
The demand was made at a meeting of the APDM here Sunday in which all heads of member political parties were present. APDM includes almost all opposition parties except the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which is now in talks over a power-sharing deal with President Musharraf.
But PPP too criticised the amendments. PPP leader Babar Awan, a lawyer by profession, said the Election Commission has no authority to do what it did and it had acted against the constitution.
“This is illegal and can be challenged in the Supreme Court,” Awan told IANS.
Minister Afgan said very few people were aware that the Election Commission does not hold the presidential election. Rather, the CEC is solely responsible for conducting the election.
“The CEC has issued a notification, which has become part of the official gazette, under which Musharraf can contest the election,” said Afgan.
He added that after the notification, the tag of “government employee” does not apply to the president.
When contacted, a spokesman for the Election Commission said that except for CEC no other official in the poll panel was involved in the president’s election.
The CEC, retired judge Qazi Muhammad Farooq, was not available for comment.
Election Commission Secretary Kanwar M. Dilshad confirmed to IANS that the rules for the president’s elections were amended and a notification in this regard was issued Sep 10.
He said the complete text of the amended rules would be released Monday.
Article 43 (1) of the constitution says: “The president shall not hold any office of profit in the service of Pakistan or occupy any other position carrying the right to remuneration for the rendering of services.”
Asked about this clause, Afgan, an MP since 1985, said he was aware of each and every clause and was confident that President Musharraf can contest the election for a second term.
“I know better than anyone else… He is very much eligible to contest.”
On the other hand, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) leadership has claimed that 56 percent of confirmed votes were available to re-elect Musharraf as president.
According to the constitution, a simple majority from parliament and all four provincial assemblies is required to elect a president.
The members of the lower and upper houses of the federal parliament, also known as National Assembly and Senate respectively, have one vote each in the presidential election.
In the provincial assemblies the votes are on the principle of “equal representation”, irrespective of the total strength of the provincial houses.
“We have more than 56 percent votes for Musharraf in the national and provincial parliaments,” PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain told reporters in Islamabad.
Besides, several members of the provincial assemblies will vote in favour of Musharraf, Hussain claimed.
The opposition was unrelenting.
“The amendment of rules shows that the Election Commission has become a party and partial… These rules have been amended just to favour the president,” said Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a leader of the Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal.
The PPP said it would consider the next steps once the details of the amendments were made public.