July 15, 2002	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 4, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, July 14: Pakistan People‘s Party has asked the Election Commission to define the term “technocrat” and clarify the manner in which it wants to hold elections to the reserved seats for technocrats, and women for the national assembly and the senate.

According to the media office of the chairperson of PPP, in a letter addressed to the chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan, the acting secretary-general of PPP, Mian Raza Rabbani, has asked to clarify the manner and mode with which the government wants to hold the elections on the reserved seats of technocrats and women for the national assembly.

The letter reads: “The military regime has introduced reserved seats for technocrats vide Chief Executive Order No.7, 2002 amended by Order No 14, 2002.

“The definition of the term “technocrat” has not been promulgated as law nor has the mode or manner in which such seats are to be filled been defined.”

Regarding the elections on the seats reserved for women he wrote: “The regime has provided for reserved seats for women in the parliament and provincial assemblies vide the Chief Executive‘s Order No 7, 2002, amended vide Order No 14, 2002.

“The qualifications and mode or manner through which such seats are to be filled has not been specified in the said Orders or in any other Order, Ordinance, thereafter, till date.

“The regime has announced the holding of election on Oct 10, 2002. In the circumstances the party seeks to invite and finalize applications from prospective candidates for the said and make preparations for the elections of the same, but is hampered for reasons and circumstances mentioned herein above.”

For the elections of senate, which the government wants to hold on the same date as the national and provincial assemblies, Rabbani asked the chief EC to clarify the mode of the elections to the senate and wrote: “Article 59 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan provides that the electoral college for the election of the members of the senate from the respective provinces shall be each provincial assembly.

The regime may draw on the argument that the Constitution is under suspension, nonetheless, the Proclamation of Emergency and Provisional Constitutional Order No. 1 of 1999 provides that the country shall be governed as nearly as may be with the Constitution.

Therefore, until an amendment to the Constitution is not promulgated by the regime the electoral college continues to remain the same. In such a case the holding of elections to the senate on October 10, while its electoral college i.e. the provincial assemblies have not been elected, is an anomaly.