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ISLAMABAD, Jan 10: Pakistan People’s Party has said that the PML-Q government had acted with mala fide intentions in postponing the Senate elections.
In a statement Raza Rabbani, acting secretary-general of the PPP said that the PPP feared that this postponement, like the delay in summoning the National Assembly and Sindh assembly, would be used to create an artificial majority for the PML-Q in the Senate.
HE SAID: “The PPP is of the view that the postponement is for the following reasons:
“The elections to the National Assembly of Pakistan were held on Oct 10, 2002. The Senate elections are scheduled for the 24th and 27th February 2003, under this schedule the Senate will not be able to meet before March 10, 2003.
“This means that after five months of National Assembly, having been elected parliament under Article 50 of the Constitution, remains incomplete. In other words, the NA has been rendered redundant as it has been stopped from performing its functions under the Constitution. It is unfortunate that an elected Assembly has been denied the right to legislate all this while and Presidential Ordinances have been issued.
“That the period from Jan 25, 2003 i.e. when the final list of candidates will be announced for the Senate elections in the provinces, federal capital area, and Fata until the 24th and 27th of February, the election day, will be used to bring pressure on the opposition candidates to withdraw their candidatures or retire from the election process to facilitate the PML-Q candidates.
