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| September 26, 2005 | Monday | Sha'aban 21, 1426 |
Poll commission, UGC may be made party in Sanad case
ISLAMABAD Sept 25: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), facing a serious challenge to its legislators’ madressah degrees, has made it clear to the government that the Election Commission of Pakistan or the University Grants Commission (UGC) might be asked to become party in the sanad equivalence case in the Supreme Court.
Deputy parliamentary leader of MMA Hafiz Hussain Ahmed held a meeting with PML’s top legal adviser Senator S.M.Zafar and discussed with him various aspects of the sanad issue.
The senator described it as a routine meeting meant for exchange of views. He denied that the government was mulling over a switch to the presidential form of government or that it had established contact with the MMA on this question.
Informed sources told Dawn on Sunday that the meeting was held as a result of contacts between PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Leader of the Opposition Maulana Fazlur Rahman on the issue.
Hafiz Hussain Ahmed said that he had told the PML senator the religious parties’ alliance was not ready to become party in the apex court and that it was for the Election Commission, under whose notification the MMA candidates had contested general elections, and the University Grants Commission (UGC), which had declared the sanads equivalent to BA, to be the party in the case pending before the Supreme Court.
He said the alliance of the country’s leading religious institutions — Ittehad Tanzeemat Madaris Deenia (ITMD) — should have settled the matter with the government before going for registration of seminaries “as it was most sensitive issue”.
Hafiz Hussain told Mr Zafar that the question of sanad had resurfaced at the time of local government elections, which was a political blackmail and the alliance was not ready to be blackmailed.
He said the Election Commission had issued a notification ahead of the election 2002 on the basis of UGC’s notification whereby madressah certificates were declared equal to BA degrees.
“We believe that both these institutions should become party to the case in question, and not the government or the MMA.”
He said the Supreme Court could also summon the two institutions to assist it in the case and consider those notifications.
S.M.Zafar denied that his meeting with Hafiz Hussain had any political or legal consequence, saying that it was political exchange of views and madressah degree issue was also discussed in the same vein.
The matter, he said, was in the court and thus not fit for discussion at this stage.
He, however, strongly refuted reports of MMA-government contacts in line with the government’s intentions of switching over to the presidential system.
He said that a two-thirds majority will be required to amend the constitution which the government did not enjoy. Moreover, there was no need to make any more experiments when the federal parliamentary system was working well.
He pointed out that more than 100 amendments will have to be made to the constitution for switching over to the presidential system. That cannot be done under the given circumstances, he added.
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