October 14, 2007	Sunday	Shawwal 1, 1428

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD, Oct 13: An application filed by Pakistan People’s Party to get permission for holding a public meeting outside the mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah on Oct 18 and erecting roadside camps is still pending for security clearance.

Karachi division PPP chief Rashid Rabbani moved an application on Thursday to the district coordination officer seeking permission to use loudspeakers and sound system and holding a public meeting on the occasion of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s return to the country on Oct 18.

The city government sent it to the Karachi police chief for security clearance. Officials in the city government said that the DCO would grant the permission to the PPP only after police clearance.

City police chief Azhar Farooqi told Dawn that he had received the application and sent it to the DIGs concerned for their opinion. “It is a routine process and the permission will be issued after getting the opinion of the DIGs and town police officers concerned.” However, Mr Rabbani said that he had applied for a formal permission and the city government authorities had agreed to allow the party to hold the public meeting.

PPP TICKETS: Meanwhile, in a statement issued by PPP spokesman Farhatullah Khan Babar in Islamabad on Saturday, the Pakistan People’s Party invited applications for party tickets from those wishing to contest forthcoming general elections against the seats reserved for minorities and women.

The hopefuls for the party tickets had been advised to submit their applications on prescribed forms to the party’s Central Secretariat in Islamabad by October 31.

A fee of Rs30,000 for the reserved seats of both categories in National Assembly and Rs25,000 in a provincial assembly is required to be paid in the form of bank draft along with the application form. Payment made in cash or any other form other than bank draft will not be accepted.

There are a total of 60 reserved women seats and 10 minorities seats in the 342-member National Assembly.

At present, the PPP has 15 women and only one minority MNA in the National Assembly.

Under the law, each party is required to submit a list of its nominees to the Election Commission in the order of preference and the ECP notifies the successful candidates in accordance to a formula which depends upon the number of seats won by a political party in the general election in each province.