July 14, 2002	Sunday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 3, 1423

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CHARSADDA, July 13: A number of politicians, traders and labour leaders rejected here on Friday the proposed constitutional amendment package, stating that amending the constitution was the task of the parliament.

In a debate, participated by Jamaat-i-Islami district president Mohammad Riaz Khan, Pakistan People’s Party leaders Mian Mukaram Shah and Mukhtiar Hashthnagri, PPP (Sherpao group) leader Arshad Khan, representatives of the shopkeepers association, labour leaders and representatives of Mohammadzai Union of Journalists, said one person had no right to amend a Constitution framed by the parliament.

Under the proposed constitutional package, they said, real democracy would not have any chance to flourish. Some of the proposals in the package were such that, if imposed, these would completely change the parliamentary democracy into a presidential form of government, they observed.

They also questioned the formation of the National Security Council, and said it would undermine the role of the parliament.

The political leaders, reiterating that the amendments could only be carried out by the parliament, demanded of the government to merely hold a free and fair election and hand over power to the elected representatives. However, majority of the leaders appreciated the graduation condition for the candidates in the forthcoming elections, saying that the lawmakers of a country must be at least graduates.