ISLAMABAD, July 23: Political parties desiring to contest elections will have to amend their constitution to incorporate the newly added provisions of the Political Parties Order, 2002, it is learnt.

The legal experts who have minutely examined the PPO, 2002, said the government was trying to achieve indirectly what the late Gen Ziaul Haq had tried to get directly and failed.

Sources said the government deliberately was not pointing out the law it had enacted on the insistence of “King’s party” about two years ago, which stipulated that a convicted person was not qualified to head a political party. The law targets both the PPP and the PML(N).

The requirement of submitting a certificate of intra-party polls would also pose problems for both these parties, as their leadership was out of the country for the last many years. The law requires that “a period, not exceeding four years, shall intervene between any two elections.”

Benazir Bhutto left Pakistan in early 1999, and Nawaz Sharif left for Saudi Arabia on Dec 10, 2000.

Gen Ziaul Haq enacted a law requiring every political party to get itself registered. The move, however, failed as the Supreme Court then held that it would provide the government with a leverage to control the will of the people.

The present government, however, is doing it in a subtle manner and has almost introduced all those changes which the previous military ruler had sought.

According to legal experts, under the Political Parties Order, 2002, every political party, including a political party already in existence, has to amend its constitution to include the following items:

“a) The aims and objectives of the party; (b) organizational structure of the party at the federal, provincial and local levels, whichever applicable; c) criteria of membership of the party; (d) membership fee, to be paid by the members; (e) qualification and tenure of the party leader and other office-bearers of the party; (f) criteria for receipt and collection of funds for the party; and (g) procedure for (i) election of party leader and other office-bearers at the federal, provincial and local levels, wherever applicable; (ii) selection or nomination of party candidates for election to public offices and legislative bodies; (iii) resolution of disputes between members and party, including issues relating to suspension and expulsion of members; and (iv) method and manner of amendments to the constitution of the party.”

The legal experts believe that the PPP and the PML(N) will not be able to produce the kind of certificate required under section 12 of the PPO, 2002.

The leaders of both the parties have to submit within seven days from completion of intra-party elections a certificate under their signatures to the Election Commission to the effect that the elections were held in accordance with the constitution of the party and PPO, 2002, to elect the party leader and other office-bearers at the federal, provincial and local levels, wherever applicable.

The certificate must contain the following information in respect of party elections: (a) the date of the last intra-party elections; b) the names, designations and addresses of the party leader and all other office-bearers elected at the federal, provincial and local levels, wherever applicable; (c) the election results, including the total number of votes cast and the number of votes secured by each contestant for all of its party offices; and (d) copy of the party’s notifications declaring the results of the election.

The law requires the Election Commission to publish for public information the certificate, including details of elections, providing an opportunity to dissenters to challenge the validity of the elections.

The law provides that only those political parties would be eligible to obtain election symbols which have submitted certificate about the holding of elections and statement of expenses and sources.

The political alliance would have to go through the same process. Section 2 of Article 14 of PPO, 2002, requires, “any political party or a combination of political parties, severally or collectively, contravenes the provisions of Article 12 or 13, shall not be entitled to obtain an election symbol for election to the Majlis-i-Shoora (Parliament) or the provincial assemblies, and the Election Commission shall not allocate an election symbol to such party or, as the case may be, the combination of political parties, for such election.”

Every political party aspiring to contest elections has to submit the certificate of its intra-party elections by Aug 5, 2002.