October 15, 2002	Tuesday	Sha'aban 8, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 14: The Election Commission secretary on Monday said that the condition of securing a minimum of 5 per cent general seats for a political party to qualify for a share in the seats reserved for woman and minorities, was being removed.

Hassan Mohammad, the EC secretary, told a press conference that an amendment to this effect had already been made in the Legal Framework Order.

He said the election results were compiled by the Election Commission and not by any other institution.

In reply to a question why the turnout was low in the areas where opposition parties were winning and high where the government-sponsored candidates were wining, the secretary said that the polling in the urban areas was less as compared to rural areas. The “government-sponsored” candidates, he added, had also some right and should not be condemned unheard.

He said the allegations of rigging were not new and added that all such allegations were baseless as the commission had taken due care to make the whole election process transparent.

The Election Commission official said that the delay in announcement of results soon after the polling was due to manual preparation of results.

The EC, he pointed out, was preparing consolidated results which would be announced soon. Referring to the allegations by various political parties about tampering with results in some of the constituencies, the secretary said that all such allegations were baseless and unfounded as the commis-sion had taken special care in receiving and compiling of results.

He said all the results were compiled by the presiding officers and announced on the spot and the POs had got signatures on the results from the polling agents of the political parties involved.

These results, he said, were later conveyed to the Returning Officers who transmitted it to the election commission where they were announced to the media.

He said that the delay was due to the increase in the number of polling stations and compilation of results by the POs manually as well as the final compilation of the results for each constituency by the ROs.

About the allegations of snatching of ballot boxes and tampering with record, the secretary said that the election commission had taken notice of these incidents and ordered fresh polling in different constituencies.

The results of some of the constituencies had been withheld due to disturbances in those areas, he added.

Referring to the suspension of polling due to disturbances, the secretary clarified that it was the responsibility of the presiding officer who had the power to order the suspension of polling.

He said the announcement of final results of any constituency could be cancelled if reports of disturbances proved correct.

The EC secretary said that the voter turnout was more in rural areas and less in urban areas, but the overall percentage was slightly over 40. He, however, added that the exact percentage would be determined after the compilation of consolidated results.

The gazette notification of the successful candidates, he said, would be announced after 20th October, which is also the last date for filing declaration of expenditure by the candidates.

The secretary said that all independent candidates could join any political party within three days after the announcement of the gazette notification of their success so that they could be included in the list of elected representatives for the completion of election to the reserved seats for women and non-Muslims.