ISLAMABAD, Jan 22: A high-level meeting here on Tuesday decided not to waive the compulsory condition of being a graduate for anyone interested to contest the national assembly election.

Informed sources told Dawn that a meeting which was presided over by President Gen Pervez Musharraf and attended by all the four governors, chairman National Reconstruction Bureau, the vice chief of the army staff and the law minister, primarily reviewed the devolution process initiated on Aug 14 last year.

However, the meeting also discussed the demand being made both publicly and privately to remove the condition of B.A. for National Assembly candidate in the forthcoming election.

Sources said that the meeting was told that a number of retired senior officers would also be affected by the decision, therefore the condition set by the NRB will not be waived.

Sources said that the president told the meeting that he has undertaken a greater political and economic reform agenda that aimed at improving social conditions and at the same time ensuring building better political and democratic institutions.

He said that public representatives should have necessary knowledge and education so that they could play a positive role in reforming the society.

The meeting was informed about the problems of the district governments specially their funding problems. What was their financial status and what kinds of legal issues these district governments were facing were also discussed during the meeting.