ISLAMABAD, July 11: In the defunct parliament, 79 MNAs and 22 senators, including leader of the opposition Benazir Bhutto, did not possess a Bachelor’s degree, a threshold of qualification for contesting the October elections, which was upheld by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

There are conflicting claims on the issue whether Benazir Bhutto, the twice elected prime minister and life-chairperson of a leading political party, has a qualification equivalent to Bachelor’s degree.

“Let the regime find it out and make itself a laughing-stock in the process,” Deputy Secretary General of PPP Mian Raza Rabbani had told Dawn on a question regarding Benazir’s educational qualification.

“Educated at Redcliffe Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Completed Oxford’s diploma course in International Law and Diplomacy, 1977,” was written in a column against the name of Benazir Bhutto, in a list prepared by the government about the educational qualification of the former MNAs.

The list, according to the official sources, was based on the information provided by the members.

The list showed that 79 MNAs, including 53 ex-MNAs of ruling PML (N) would not qualify for filing nomination papers to contest the October elections. Prominent among them are former speaker Gohar Ayub Khan, deputy chairman Senate Mir Humanyun Khan Mari, Lt-Gen Majeed Malik, Chaudhry Sher Ali, Secretary General of PML (N) Saranjam Khan and Ghulam Dastagir Khan.

Apart from the 53 MNAs of PML (N), four of its senators out of a total of 26 were also under-graduate.

According to the list, Mian Muhammad Azhar, who now heads PML (Quaid-i-Azam) group, possessed a Bachelor’s degree in commerce.

Interestingly, Begum Abida Hussain, who reportedly has recently appeared in BA exams from Bahauddin Zakaria University, Multan, was shown as graduate. In the qualification column against her name was written: “B.A., Diploma in Fine Arts from Academy of Florence, Italy, and Diploma in French.”

Only five MNAs and none of the 19 former senators of PPP, who had been occupying opposition seats in the parliament — dissolved in October, 1999, military coup — were under-graduate.

Besides Benazir Bhutto and her mother Nusrat Bhutto, the other two members who were below the mark set for October elections were Shabir Chandio, Haji Bux Jamali, Waja Karim Dad, and Shafqat Hussain Sheerazi.

The Awami National Party had eight senators and 10 MNAs in the parliament, of whom four MNAs and three senators, including Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, were not graduate. Among the four senators and 12 MNAs of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, only one MNA was not holding the Bachelor’s degree. However, the majority of senators and MNAs from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas were non-graduate.

Following are the names of MNAs likely to be hit by the condition of educational qualification:

Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour (ANP), Arbab Saadullah Khan (ANP), Wali Muhammad Khan (ANP), Haji Rehmanullah (ANP), Sardar Fida Muhammad Khan PML(N), Gohar Ayub Khan PML(N), Aurangzeb (IND), Haji Muhammad Kabir Khan PML(N), Haji Inayat Khan PML(N), Al-Haji Muhammad Khan PML(N), Haji Behroz Khan (IND), Haji Zarin Khan Mengal (IND), Syed Munir Sayed (IND), Maulana Muhammad Dindar (IND), Haji Bazgul Afridi (IND), Malik Lal Khan PML(N), Lt-Gen Malik Abdul Majeed PML(N), Raja Muhammad Afzal Khan PML(N), Nawabzada Iqbal Medhi Khan PML(N), Malik Adnan Hayat Khan Noon PML(N), Ch. Abdul Hameed PML(N), Inamullah Khan Niazi PML(N), Khan Muhammad Asghar Khan (IND), Muhammad Zafarullah Khan Dhandla PML(N), Rana Zahid Tauseef PML(N), Chaudhry Safdar Rehman PML(N), Mian Muhammad Farooq PML(N), Haji Muhammad Akram Ansari PML(N), Chaudhry Sher Ali PML(N), Mian Abdul Mannan PML(N), Maulana Muhammad Rehmatullah PML(N), Nawab Amanullah Khan Sial PML(N), Sahibzada Muhammad Tahir Sultan PML(N), Ch. Abdul Sattar PML(N), Afzal Hussain Tarrar PML(N), Ghulam Dastgir Khan PML(N), Ch. Ahmed Raza, Mr Mubasher Hussain PML(N), Syed Manzoor Hussain Shah PML(N), Ch. Muhammad Iqbal Bosal PML(N), Syed Iftikhar-ul-Hassan Shah PML(N), Tariq Aziz PML(N), Mualana Moin-ud-Din Lakhvi PML(N), Mian Muhammad Zaman PML(N), Mian Muhammad Zaman PML(N), Rao Qaiser Ali Khan PML(N), Haji Muhammad Boota PML(N), Sh Tahir Rashid PML(N), Ghulam Qasim Khan PML(N), Begum Majida Wayne PML(N), Muhammad Nawaz Khan PML(N), Mian Atta Muhammad Qureshi PML(N), Malik Ghulam Muhammad Noor PML(N), Sahibzada Faiz-ul-Hassan PML(N), Sahibzada Farooq Anwer Abbasi PML(N), Muhammad Aqeel-ur-Rehman PML(N), Makhdum Syed Ahmad Mahmood PML(N), Makhdoom Immad-ud-Din PML(N), Ch. Muhammad Jaffar Iqbal PML(N), Asghar Ali Shah PML(N), Syed Shabbir Ahmad Shah PML(N), Begum Nusrat Bhutto PPP, Benazir Bhutto PPP, Shabir Ahmed Khan Chandio PPP, Pir Bux Khaskheli (IND), Haji Muhammad Bux Jamali PPP, Abdul Hamid Jatoi PML(N), Jam Mashooq Ali (IND), Syed Shafqat Hussain Shah Sheerazi PPP, Mian Ejaz Ahmed Shafi PML(N), Muhammad Farooq Ahmad HPG, Ahmed Karim Dad Baloch PPP, Sardar Atif Ali Sanjarani PML(N), Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind JWP, Nawab Muhammad Akber Khan Bugti JWP, Faridullah Khan Jamali (IND), Jam Muhammad Yousaf PML(N), Tariq C. Qaiser (IND), Simon Jacob (IND), Rana Chandar Singh (IND), Bashiruddin Khalid (IND).

Among the former senators are:

Pervaiz Rashid PML(N), Muhammad Zahid Khan ANP, Haji Javed Iqbal Abbasi PML(N), Sar Anjam Khan PML(N), Maj. Mukhtar Ahmed Khan PML(N), Syed Muhammad Jawad (IND), Muhammad Javed Mengal BNP, Subedar Khan Mandokhel PML(N), Mir Nabi Bux Domki JWP, Khudai Noor JWP, Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, Zarif Khan Mandokhel PML(N), Mir Hummanyun Khan Mari JWP, Haji Gul Sher Khan (IND), Haji Gul Afridi (IND), Haji Sakhi Jan (IND), Molvi Sayed Ameer Khan (IND), Haji Muhammad Shah Afridi (IND), Haji Dilawar Khan (IDP) and Raja Aurangzeb PML(N).