KARACHI, May 7: The high criteria government has set for candidates wishing to contest general elections have, on the one hand, rendered the majority of national political and religious parties’ seasoned politicians ineligible and, on the other, have posed to them the problem of where to find their substitutes after the bulk of their potential candidates has already been used for the local bodies system.

Although the announcement by Presidenta General Pervez Musharraf to hold the forthcoming elections on party basis has brought some relief to these national parties, they are still wondering if the Nazims and Naib Nazims these parties have backed could be eligible for contesting general elections.

The graduation condition has already deprived major political and religious parties, except those which mainly derive support from the urban areas such as the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), of the influence of the heavyweights who usually reside in the rural areas.

“The government policy vis-a-vis Nazims, Naib Nazims contesting general elections from the platform of political parties is still unclear,” said an election commission official on Tuesday. He said that policy in that regard was expected before the final announcement of the elections schedule by the President.

Except the JI and the MQM almost all the major political parties, including both factions of the Pakistan Muslim League PML (Nawaz and Quaid-e-Azam) and the PPP, are critical of the condition of graduation.

All the such political parties have started reshaping their policies by making alliances instead of depending on landlords. They are focusing specially on small factions, nationalists and locally influential groups.

Acting genera-secretary PPP, Raza Rabbani, alleged that all the steps of the government were based on mala fide intentions and its aim was to bid to mould the results of the polls in order to save the king’s party.

Provincial chief of the JI, Asadullah Bhutto, said that no condition imposed by the government was going to affect his party.

Meraj Mohammad Khan, secretary-general of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf urged that the government must take steps to remove confusion in the national political parties and ensure their participation in the process of decision making.

Deputy convener MQM, Aftab Sheikh, said the apex court’s conditional permission under doctrine of necessity to the present government to remain in power till certain objectives were met did not authorize it to make vital changes.

Meanwhile, an EC official said that electoral rolls containing names of persons 21 years of age and above would be sent to NADRA the next week.—PPI