Pakistan polls on October 10
Islamabad |By Shahid Hussain | 11-07-2002
gulfnews.com
Pakistan will hold general elections on October 10, President General Pervez Musharraf ordered yesterday after a cabinet meeting where he announced there were more changes to Pakistan's constitution in the offing, despite an uproar over a series of decrees he has already issued that critics say cement his grip on power.
A presidential order issued after the cabinet meeting said the elections for the National Assembly (lower house), the Senate (upper house) and the four provincial assemblies "shall be held on 10th of October, 2002".
The election date falls two days before the third anniversary of the bloodless military coup that toppled the government of prime minister Nawaz Sharif on October 12, 1999.
The Election Commission is expected to unveil over the coming days a schedule for the holding of the elections, which will be the fifth parliamentary polls in the country in about 16 years.
The military government has introduced electoral reforms by which the system of separate electorates for non-Muslim minorities has been abolished, seats in the parliament, provincial assemblies and the senate have been increased and stricter rules have been laid down to qualify as a candidate in the elections.
For the first time non-graduates will not be eligible to contest elections and the minimum voting has been brought down from 21 to 18 years. Loan defaulters and convicts will be barred from standing in the elections.
Political parties have been ordered to hold internal elections before August 5, to be eligible to participate in parliamentary polls.
Musharraf has also issued an order that disqualifies anyone who has held the office of prime minister or provincial chief minister for two terms from being elected to the offices again. The restriction hits two former prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, as well as some other politicians.
Musharraf is due to address the nation on Friday and is expected to unveil further changes then.
Most political parties are strongly opposed to the proposed amendments on the grounds that the plan is designed to concentrate all powers in the hands of the president.
Musharraf told the cabinet meeting he would start a series of consultations with politicians and other segments of society this week on the proposed constitutional package. But it was not known if the main opposition parties would agree to meet him. They refused last month to meet him to discuss a military standoff with arch-rival India.
A government statement quoted him as telling the cabinet meeting that debate over the initial amendments suggested "things are turning for the better and are becoming clearer" for the people of Pakistan.
"These would get even better understood with the unfolding of the second package later this week," the official statement said without giving details.
Musharraf has faced a storm of protests from political parties and other groups since unfolding a package of constitutional amendments on June 26 that give him sweeping powers to dictate the country's affairs.
The draft constitutional amendments also include plans for a powerful 10-member National Security Council of generals and civilians headed by Musharraf under a system of "checks and balances".
Opposition parties have denounced the proposals as a move to cement the control of generals, who have ruled Pakistan for more than half its 55 years of independence. |
