Graduation condition eliminated: Senate approves Election Rules Amendment Bill 2009

The Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved 'Election Rules Amendment Bill 2009,' eliminating the graduation condition and paving way for people with limited formal education to contest general elections. The graduation condition for contesting elections was introduced in 2002 by the then president General Pervez Musharraf, had badly disappointed the politicians, particularly the major political parties as a large number of their candidates were below graduation rather matriculates.
The bill was passed in pursuance of the Supreme Court's judgement dated April 21, 2008 in which the apex court had declared as null and void the provision of Article 8A of the conduct of General Election Order, 2002 (Chief Executive Order No 7 of (2002) and clause (cc) of sub-section (1) of section 99 of the Representation of the people Act, 1976 on account of their being inconsistent with Articles 17 and 25 of the Constitution.
The upper house also passed the Cotton Standardisation (Amendment) Bill, 2009. The Cotton Standardisation Ordinance was promulgated in 2002 according to which, the administrative entity, namely, Pakistan Cotton Standards Institute was under the administrative control of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock.
As such, the board of directors of the Institute comprised, interalia, representatives of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Section 5(1) (b) and similarly, in terms of section 5(2). Secretary, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock was to be the chairman of the Board of Directors of PCSI.
With the establishment of Ministry of Textile Industry in September 2004 in pursuance of amended Rules of Business 1973 notified vide SRO No 403(I)/2005 dated May 9, 2005, the administrative control of PCSI was transferred to MINTEX from MINFAL.