February 4, 2003	Tuesday	Zul Hijjah 2,1423

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 3: The PPP acting secretary general, Mian Raza Rabbani, has said that certain independent candidates belonging to big business groups are “openly flaunting their financial resources to secure seats in the Senate”.

In a statement issued by the party media cell here on Monday, the PPP nominee for Senate, said: “It is a matter of grave concern, the manner in which certain independent candidates belonging to the big business groups are openly flaunting their financial resources to secure seats in the Senate.

“The Senate as envisaged by the authors of the 1973 Constitution”, according to Mr Rabbani, “is a House of equal representation, safeguarding the legitimate, financial, political and cultural interests of the federating units.

“The mode of elections specified under the Constitution ensures that all shades of political opinion reflected in the provincial assemblies have an opportunity of being represented in the House of the Federation.”

This open exhibition of financial resources amounts to circumventing the very purpose for which the Senate was created ie, to safeguard the rights of the federating units, Mr Rabbani said.

It will be recalled that in the general elections also a particular group of independents was created and nurtured and allowed the symbol of the crescent. It appears that in the Senate elections, a group of independents is being supported by the PML-Q to use their financial resources in an attempt to undermine the mainstream political parties. Such tactics are against good governance, clean politics and lead to destabilization of the political process.