LAHORE, March 15: PML(QA) Information Secretary Abida Husain says there is no need for the technocrats’ seats in the National Assembly and the government would do well by abolishing the proposed quota and going for a two-fold increase in such seats in the Senate.

Speaking to reporters at her residence on Friday, she said the Election Commission had made it mandatory for every party to allocate 20 per cent seats for women.

Opposing the proposal that everybody contesting the general elections should at least be a graduate, Ms Husain said the condition was illogical in view of the low literacy rate, with the number of graduates less than two per cent.

Anybody having the right to vote also had the right to be voted for, the former ambassador said.

She criticized the National Reconstruction Bureau for proposing steps which could be enforced only through constitutional amendments. The NRB, she emphasized, had no right to change the basic law.

The PML(QA) leader pointed out that the NRB had proposed the condition of matriculation for the district nazims, although they had tremendous financial and administrative powers.

Replying to a question, she said, half the construction would have been completed by now had Gen Musharraf started work on Kalabagh Dam immediately after taking over. She said such projects were necessary to meet the irrigation requirements and faced drought-like conditions.

Answering another question, she said, Gen Musharraf had the right to say who should or should not take part in the general elections.

About reports that Gen Musharraf planned to hold referendum to have himself elected as president, Ms Husain said so far her party had not formulated its formal point of view on the issue and opinions expressed by various leaders were their individual thoughts.

She said ratification of the referendum results by parliament would be necessary.