Benazir can't contest poll under new law

The military government has added a new clause to the law encompassing qualifications and disqualifications, by which a person "convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for having absconded" by a court will not be qualified to become a member of parliament.

The clause directly hits former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who has been re-elected by Pakistan People's Party as its head.

The former prime minister, living in self-exile, has been twice convicted for failing to appear before accountability courts to answer corruption charges.

The government has reserved 10 seats for non-Muslims in the future National Assembly in response to the demand of the minorities, officials said yesterday. The allocation was made through the Conduct of General Elections (Fourth Amendment) order issued here late on Thursday.

In addition to the special seats the minorities will have the right to contest on general seats in the lower house as the past system of separate electorate for them has been abolished.

The minorities have been demanding that a special quota of seats be fixed for them on the pattern adopted for women who have reserved seats and can also run for general seats.

According to the law, the government has dropped the idea of reserving special seats for technocrats in the lower house to be elected directly in the general election on October 10.

The people contesting on 60 reserved seats for women and the 10 seats allocated for non-Muslims will be elected through proportional representation system of political parties' lists of candidates.

A party securing less than five per cent of the total number of seats in the National Assembly will not be entitled to any reserved seat.

After the changes the National Assembly will now consist of 342 members, down from 357 as earlier proposed by National Reconstruction Bureau, the government's think-tank tasked with restructuring the political system.

Christians will have four seats with an equal number allocated for Hindus and people from schedules castes. Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities will collectively have one seat and one seat has been reserved for Ahmadis.

The four Provincial Assemblies will have a total strength of 728 members, including 23 seats for minorities.

The province-wise breakdown: Punjab 372 seats, Sindh 167, Balochistan 65 and North-West Frontier Province 124.

The senate (upper house), which will be elected indirectly through an electoral college as provided in the suspended 1973 constitution, will have 100 members, including 17 seats reserved for technocrats and Ulema (religious scholars).