January 31, 2008	Thursday	Muharram 21, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Jan 30: A former member of parliament requested the Supreme Court on Wednesday to declare that no person holding the job of acting president could contest the polls.

Moved under the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction on fundamental rights, petitioner Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan also sought the apex court’s direction for the removal of CEC Qazi Mohammad Farooq by sending a reference against him to the Supreme Judicial Council and appointing another judge in his place.

National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain and the CEC are respondents in the petition. Dr Awan, who is contesting the Feb 18 election as a PPP candidate from Sialkot, had filed a complaint to the CEC accusing the speaker, contesting from the same constituency, of indulging in pre-poll rigging.

In response to the complaint, the CEC barred the speaker from visiting the constituency during the period he was functioning as acting president in absence of President Pervez Musharraf during his recent visit to Europe.—Staff Reporter