ISLAMABAD, Feb 14: One reason why most of the politicians hate Pervez Musharraf is that he had made graduation mandatory for them to take part in elections to the assemblies. Even those running for elections at the union council level were supposed to have passed at least the secondary school exams.
Had the graduation condition been made part of the law related to the qualifications of candidates, how many of the politicians in Chitral have been disqualified from taking part in elections?
In order to get an answer to this question, ChitralToday checked the record of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
According to the nomination forms and affidavits submitted to the ECP for the May 11 elections, Sardar Hussain of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is a ‘qualified matriculate’.
APML Chitral president Khalid Pervaiz has done O-level (ordinary level) which is equivalent to matric. Former tehsil nazim Mastuj Sikander Ul Mulk, who contested the May 11 elections from PK-90 as an independent candidate, has stated in his nomination forms that he holds a ‘matriculation certificate’. Fouzia Bibi, MPA on reserved seat from Chitral, has done MSc anthropology from the University of Peshawar.
Syed Sardar Hussain Shah, who contested the elections as an impendent candidate from PK-90, is ‘middle’ passed. Shah Wazir Khan from Booni, who contested the elections on the Awami National Party (ANP) ticket, has mentioned ‘Wajibi’ (literate) in his educational column.
Syed Muzaffar Ali Shah, the ANP candidate for NA-32, is also a matriculate. Haji Sultan Muhammad of PTI is FA. Zafar Ahmed of ANP is a matriculate.
The nomination papers submitted to returning office in Chitral by suspended MPA Ghulam Muhammad of All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) shows that he holds a bachelor degree.
Rehmat Ghazi Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has stated in his nomination forms that he holds a BA degree.
PTI district president, Abdul Lateef, has a master’s degree in political science.
Major (retired) Ahmed Saeed Khan, who contested NA-32 election on Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) ticket, holds BA degree from University of Peshawar.
Shahzada Iftikharuddin, the incumbent MNA, has done Masters in Business Administration (MBA).
Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali of Jamaat-e-Islami is a graduate from Al-Shahadatul Alamia, which he has mentioned equivalent to master’s of arts (MA).
Muhammad Hakim Khan, who contested elections on PPP ticket from NA-32, also holds MA LLB degree.
Former president Gen Pervez Musharraf, who could not contest the general elections after the Peshawar High Court clamped lifetime ban on him, holds an MSc degree.
The qualification of Sartaj Ahmad Khan, who is reportedly flexing muscles to join the bandwagon of Imran Khan, has also done BA. Abdul Wali Khan Abid of Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) is BA LLB.
Eidul Hussain of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) is holding a master’s degree in education. Saleem Khan of PPP has done master’s in sociology.
Shahzada Amanur Rehman has done BIT (honours). The district president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Said Ahmed Khan, who contested election for the National Assembly seat, is MA LLB.]]>
I just went through the nomination forms of returned candidates with annexure submitted to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), carried on the website of the commission. According to details, Ghulam Muhammad has passed his matric in the second division as a private candidate but with the following science subjects: (1) English (2) Urdu (3) Islamiat (4) Social studies (5) mathematics (elective) (6) Physics and Chemistry (7) Physiology Hygiene.
Then he has claimed of passing his secondary school certificate (FA) in 1974 from Peshawar Board in the third division from government degree college Chitral. But in the certificate, it was also stated that the examination was taken as a whole.
I failed to understand if he was a regular student how did pass the FA as whole, as it takes two years. If he had appeared as a private candidate, it must been mentioned there the passed the exam as a private candidate.
The most important thing is that he has claimed of having a bachelor degree but he had not submitted his BA degree to the Election Commission. His qualification seems dubious and I would like the concerned parties to seek a probe into his educational credentials. The PTI and PPP candidates have got yet another option to go to court if he has lied in the affidavit submitted to the ECP.