No place for fake degree holders in ruling party

Kaira says tickets will not be awarded to those with bogus education certificates

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will never award tickets to politicians with forged educational certificates for elections, Information Minister Qamaruzaman Kaira said on Friday. He told journalists that the party leadership has now decided not to field fake degree holders in elections.

The announcement by the ruling party comes amid reports that the educational certificates of around to 150 lawmakers might not be genuine.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) is in final stages of conducting a scrutiny of documents submitted by lawmakers to the election authorities for contesting the 2008 general elections.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has already announced that it would never give “cheaters” a chance to get reelected from the party platform, though it has the highest number of fake degree holding lawmakers.

The PPP, however, has so far been “defying” public and media pressures by defending the fake degree holders. Its argument was the law of being a graduate to become a lawmaker was introduced by former dictator Gen. Pervez Musharraf to block his opponents’ entry into parliament.

The party earlier this year awarded a ticket to MNA Jamshed Dasti for by-elections after he had to resign when his degree was found to be forged during a court case.

But it appeared from Friday’s statement by Kaira that there has been a change of heart now.

The information minister said that the judiciary’s orders would be thoroughly complied with. Kaira said the government would honour and implement the decision of the apex court and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) regarding the issue of fake degrees.

Wage board

Earlier the minister told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information that the government would implement the seventh wage board award of newspapers’ employees once a court hearing petition in this regard comes up with a verdict.

“There would be no delay on the part of the government,” the minister assured the panel.  “The matter is sub judice with the Sindh High Court. Once the decision comes on the 7th wage award, it would be implemented within no time,” he said.

The committee members asked the government to make sure that television channels do not telecast such advertisements in which the domestic standards of morality are not followed.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2010.