November 11, 2002	Monday	Ramazan 5, 1423

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BAJAUR, Nov 10: The political leaders of different parties in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas have criticized the old procedure for the Senate elections and urged the government to introduce the direct elections for the Upper House.

Speaking at a joint news conference here on Saturday, Akhunzada Chitan (PPP), Gul Afzal Khan (ANP), Abdul Manan Kakaji (NAPP), Dr Khalil (PTI) Idrees Khan of Tehreek-i-Musawat and Qazi Abdul Manan of the Bajuar Political Alliance asked the government to fulfil its promises regarding the election for the senators.

They said that the old indirect procedure had many flaws in it as the members of the parliament could easily be bribed by the wealthy and influential people from the Fata and they could pressurize the members of the parliament for their nomination for the senatorship, they added.

They claimed that the government had earlier decided to elect the members of the senate directly by voting in Fata but it had backed out. Now, the government has decided to elect the senators according to the old procedure where the members of the parliament nominated the senators.

To discourage corruption and bargaining for the seats in the senate, earlier the government had decided to elect the senators directly from Fata and it was hailed by the people of Fata, they added.

The speakers at the news conference said that they hoped that their elected representatives would sit in the senate and would be a part of the decision making body. Now the government is going for the old procedure which would enable the moneyed men and smugglers of Fata to sit in the senate, they said.

They said the unfair transactions for senate seats held a long history in Fata as the price for the senatorship was estimated as Rs50 million at present. The representatives of the political parties at the conference said that if the direct procedure for the election of the senatorship is not adopted then the political parties of Fata would protest against it in front of the Parliament House.