67 MPs have fake degrees

By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir

ISLAMABAD: At least 67 members of the Assemblies and Parliament have been established having fake degrees and about 54 constituencies will see by-elections any time soon since the losing candidates are required to challenge their opponent's qualification which has been already established fake and such members would be thrown out of the elected houses on moving just one application.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) is still sittingwith its fingers crossed to receive metric and intermediate certificates of 428 members of Parliament and assemblies out of 1157 so that the verification of the degrees should be completed. Interestingly ten member's degrees have yet to reach the HEC even after passage of six months of the process initiation. Yet in another noteworthy development HEC Chairman Dr. Farooq Leghari is leaving for London today (Thursday).

Well placed sources told The News here Wednesday that the HEC has asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to obtain metric and intermediate certificates of the members of Parliament and assemblies whose degrees are yet to be ascertained and pending for verification. In a carefully worded letter the HEC has reminded the ECP that the HEC will have to examine the degrees of the members finally since the HEC is the competent authority to verify such documents. The HEC is prepared to fulfill its responsibilities regarding the verification. The letter has been consigned to the ECP a day before the departure of the HEC chairman to the United Kingdom.

The HEC is apprehensive about large number of degrees, which have been verified by various universities without inspecting the certificates of metric and intermediate examinations of the members. The HEC had bitter experience of such degrees when in the outset it dispatched large number of degrees for verification to the respective universities but incidentally the universities endorsed them without looking into the metric and intermediate certificates. Resultantly the HEC had to undertake the whole exercise again afresh. It established astonishingly that despite the verifications of the universities still some degrees were fake.

The sources pointed out that seventeen members have approached the courts for seeking relief and hence their matter has become subjudice. Once they are finishing their struggle in courts, their cases would be processed by the HEC according to the laid down procedure.

The sources reminded that about 13 members have so far been de-seated on account of their bogus educational degrees and the by-elections have already been held on their seats. They are part of 67 members who have been established fake degree holders.

The sources said that Dr. Farooq Leghari who will be returning Tuesday next would accelerate pace of checking once he returns from the UK. No detail has been given about his engagements in the United Kingdom but it is understood that he would be having meeting with academia in that country and some officials will also meet him during his stay in the UK, the sources added.

The sources said that the meetings of the National Assembly and Senate are being summoned on 1st of November in Islamabad. The largest opposition Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) is on the boycott of the proceedings of the National Assembly and it is understood that the opposition has mulled to give tough fight to the government on judicial front. The next political battle is believed to outbreak in the courts rooms. The PML-N has already decided to take on the government on account of number of irregularities including the recent one in shape of appointment of chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The opposition has contemplated to give government resistance tooth and nail with regard to the appointment that is in utter violation of the constitution and verdicts of the apex court.

The opposition PML-N has established contact with other opposition groups for mustering their support to give tough time to the government in the elected houses. It is believed that the PML-N would call of its boycott of the National Assembly that started due to cheating of the ministry of parliamentary affairs that got a disputed bill rushed through despite the commitment contrary to that in the sitting of the National Assembly ended last week. The next session would be an eventful and it would continue for about ten days. The last session of the National Assembly was prorogued three days ahead of the agreed schedule and the opposition also termed it yet another irregularity of the government.