March 24, 2002	Sunday	Muharram 9, 1423

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PESHAWAR, March 23: The condition of securing 10 per cent votes by a political party, for filling reserved seats for women and technocrats in the National Assembly through proportional representation, has placed regional parties and independent candidates in a disadvantaged position.

Legal experts believed that after the promulgation of the Conduct of General Election Order, 2002, by President Pervez Musharraf, it has become impossible for regional parties to win even a single reserve seat even if a party secures more votes in the three smaller provinces.

Although, seats reserved for women and technocrats have been allocated to each of the four provinces, but under clause 5 sub-clause 4(d) of the order these seats would be filled through proportional representation system of open political parties’ lists of candidates on the basis of total votes secured by the candidates of each political party contesting elections to the general seats.

It is said that a political party receiving less than ten per cent of the total votes cast in the election on general seats will not be entitled to any seat.

Chairman of Free Legal Aid Cell, Noor Alam Khan advocate suggested that like the provincial assemblies seats which would be filled on the basis of total votes secured by the candidates of a political party contesting on the general seats in a province, same procedure should be adopted for the National Assembly seats allocated to a province.

He said that if National Assembly seats were filled through total votes secured by candidates of a party across the country instead of a province, then there was a possibility that only the two major political parties having vote bank in Punjab and Sindh would secure ten per cent of the total votes cast.

Even if a political party in a smaller province secures more than ten per cent votes in the province, but receives less than ten per cent votes in the country it would not be allocated any of the reserved seats in the National Assembly. In such a manner only the two national level parties would share the 85 reserved National Assembly seats among themselves.

Moreover, as elections on the reserved seats would be held on the basis of proportional representation, no independent candidate could contest on the seats reserved for women and technocrats.