LAHORE, March 31: The Pakistan People’s Party on Sunday rejected Gen Pervez Musharraf’s plan to hold a referendum to have himself elected president as “a deviation from the parliamentary structure of the Constitution and violation of the very judgment of the Supreme Court through which the regime had sought validity”

Party’s secretary-general Mian Reza Rabbani while talking to Dawn clarified the difference between the election and the referendum and questioned the justification for Gen Musharraf to use district Nazmeen to get votes for himself.

Since the PPP has a large number of its Nazmeen and councillors across the country, it would take any decision on their role in the proposed referendum in consultation with the other parties in the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, Mr Rabbani said.

The Constitution of Pakistan, the PPP leader said, clearly stipulated under Article 41 that the president was to be “elected” by an electoral college identified through the procedure laid down in the second schedule.

The Constitution stipulates an election in which there would be more than one person eligible to contest for the said office. The requirements of Articles 62 and 63, dealing with qualifications and disqualifications have to be strictly met.

A lawyer by profession, Mr Rabbani argued that a referendum under Article 48 was “not” an election. This is the basic point of distinction.

He said sub-clause 6 of Article 48 provided that a question of national importance, and there was a difference between a question and an election, can be asked the answer to which has to be in the form of a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’.

As the referendum is not an election it infringes upon the right of parliament and provincial assemblies from electing a president, and hits at the basic structure of the Constitution.

Replying to a question, the PPP leader said: “It appears that the regime will go into the referendum by tying the hands of the political parties behind their back. It has been said that political activity will not be restored and that political parties can hold indoor meetings and express their views on TV while the chief executive will mobilize a public opinion for an affirmative vote.

This, he said, means that the regime will be at liberty to carry on the political activity to the disadvantage of the political parties.

As for the role of the district Nazmeen, Mr Rabbani pointed out, the basis of their elections given by the regime was that they were non-political and would not be used by the regime to further its political agenda.

The plan to use them to get support for the general, he said, was in itself a contradiction and a turn around from the regime’s original position.

“As for the Nazmeen of the PPP are concerned, once the decision is officially announced, the party’s central executive committee will take a decision and we’ll also consult our colleagues in the ARD on the future line of action”

About a categorical announcement by Gen Musharraf that he would not allow Ms Benazir Bhutto (and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif) to return to power at any cost, the PPP secretary-general said the assertion “falls within the purview of pre-poll rigging and moving towards managed results in the proposed October elections”.

He said there was no constitutional bar on Ms Bhutto to contest the election. He said what the general had said places a fetter on the fundamental rights of the people enshrined in the Constitution regarding freedom of association, forming a political party and their democratic right of electing a person of their choice to lead them.

The PPP and the people of Pakistan, Mr Rabbani said, could not allow an individual to arrogate to himself the right of denial of these two basic fundamental and constitutional rights.

“The chief executive has summarily, without assigning any specific reason under the law, said that he would not allow Ms Bhutto to come back to power. This is the exclusive right of the people of Pakistan to decide who should rule them and the PPP would struggle to ensure that this right was not wrested from them.

About Gen Musharraf’s announcement that he would strike a balance in the powers of the president, the prime minister and the army chief for the smooth working of the democratic system in the future, the PPP secretary-general said: “The Constitution of Pakistan in actual fact provides for only one player i.e the prime minister. It provides a trichotomy of power to maintain the check and balance between the three organs of the state. It was through amendments made by Gen Ziaul Haq that a new player in terms of the president was introduced through Article 58 (2) (B) and the insertion of word ‘discretion of the president’ in various articles that disbalanced the constitutional trichotomy. Even after Zia’s amendments the Constitution did not provide for a role for the army chief in the running of the affairs of the state.

In his opinion if Gen Musharraf went ahead according to his plan, he would be creating further political instability.