Friday, June 30 2006 12:29 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: A quid pro quo deal may be in the offing between President Pervez Musharraf, who wants to get re-elected to the presidency next year, and the ruling Islamist alliance in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) by amending election laws that allows only graduates to seek elections.

The Daily Times said the government is negotiating with the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) of Maulana Fazlur Rehman on his demand for waiving the graduation condition for participation in the next elections.

In exchange, the JUI, and the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), the Islamist alliance that rules NWFP and has a strong presence in Balochistan, must support Musharraf's bid to get re-elected before the general election next year-end.

The newspaper said the initiative has come from the MMA and closed-door talks are to begin shortly.

If the government does not pass such an amendment, many parliamentarians could be barred from the next elections. Among them would be most MMA parliamentarians of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who is also leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, and a few Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) parliamentarians.

A petition regarding the validity of Islamic seminary degrees (to treat it on a par with graduation degrees) is pending in the Supreme Court.

Significantly, MMA is simultaneously sounding the opposition Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and the emerging combine of exiled former prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.

But MMA's precondition is that it would be part of the larger opposition only if they promise that if they come to power they would not tamper with the Islamic laws based on Hadith, which are already part of the country's jurisprudence.

This is a condition the other opposition parties are unlikely to accept.

Incidentally, the ARD too supports removal of the graduation clause. Quoting political sources, the newspaper said that the MMA leadership had approached the government through Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, chief of the Pakistan Muslim League (Qaid) that Musharraf has blessed.

Hussain has already hinted at the removal of this 'undemocratic' condition. Tariq Azeem, the PML-Q secretary and minister of state for information, has also confirmed that the government is considering its removal.

If the deal is struck, election to the presidency may be held early next year. The president and the National Assembly will simultaneously complete their constitutional tenure on Nov 14, 2007.

"The president's re-election (in uniform) is a constitutional issue because the cut-off date for him to doff his uniform is Dec 31, 2007. If he leaves it for the next parliament and provincial assemblies, which will be formed in 2008, to re-elect him, he will have to retire from the army before contesting the election," a constitutional expert who is also a treasury parliamentarian told the newspaper.

He suggested that the only option for Musharraf was to get himself re-elected (while in uniform) by the present electoral college before the cut-off date of Dec 31, 2007, after which he was required to become a civilian. "Article 41(4) of the Constitution provides that the presidential election can be held within 60 days before the term of the president expires," he explained.