October 7, 2002	Monday	Rajab 29, 1423

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QUETTA, Oct 6: Balochistan High Court Bar Association President Amanullah Kanrani on Sunday demanded postponement of election for 70 seats reserved for women and minorities.

Speaking at a press conference, he said the system of election for the seats was not in conformity with the provisions of Constitution.

He said that under the new electoral system, the political parties were required to submit a priority list of their candidates with the Election Commission that would announce the names of the winning candidates.

He maintained that since minorities would not vote directly for their representatives on reserved seats, it would serve the interests of those parties who had larger number of seats.

“The minorities will suffer because of this novel system of elections and ultimately it will pave the way for manoeuvring by the government party,” he said.

He asked why proportional representation system was adopted for reserved seats only. If the system was beneficial for women and minorities, why should it not be adopted for the general seats, he asked. He said the regional parties had been deprived of their right of nominating their candidates for reserved seats of women and minorities in the National Assembly.