No ticket for fake degree holders in future, says Nawaz

[Neo]

No ticket for fake degree holders in future, says Nawaz

Wednesday, 16 Jun, 2010

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said that the party would not issue election tickets to any fake degree holders in future.

A statement issued said that the PML-N chief advised law makers holding fake degrees to voluntarily resign in order to save themselves from embarrassment.

No compromise would be made on the issue and no body would be allowed to make mockery of democracy and politics, said Sharif.

He said sacrifices would be made for the democratic norms in Pakistan.—DawnNews

DAWN.COM | Pakistan | No ticket for fake degree holders in future, says Nawaz

[Neo]

Degrees of another 228 lawmakers being verified

By Iftikhar A. Khan
Tuesday, 15 Jun, 2010

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission has sent degrees of 228 lawmakers to National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Education for their onward transmission to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for verification, Dawn learnt on Monday.

The NA panel headed by Abid Sher Ali ordered the unusual step after a number of lawmakers were found to be holding fake degrees, with reports suggesting that up to 150 of them could be involved in the wrongdoing.

The committee has decided to get the degrees of all lawmakers verified and asked the Election Commission to provide copies of the certificates which would be sent to the HEC for verification.

The Election Commission sent degrees of 872 lawmakers to the committee on May 24 and has now sent another 228 degrees available with it.

Election Commission spokesman Muhammad Afzal Khan confirmed that copies of 1,100 degrees had been sent so far to the HEC for verification through the NA body.

He said the total number of lawmakers in the country, including members of provincial assemblies, stood at 1170.

“We have sent degrees of all but nine lawmakers,” he said, adding that the commission had no record of the rest as graduation degree was not a condition for contesting by-elections.

Though the NA body wants to get the certificates verified as quickly as possible, sources in the HEC said the exercise would take some time. The number of lawmakers with fake degrees continues to swell with many of them re-occupying their lost seats by contesting by-elections.

DAWN.COM | Front Page | Degrees of another 228 lawmakers being verified

[btitech]

PML (N) principle stand politics, this is a litmus test for there party and they are doing good for the betterment of the nation and led by example.

[sonicboom]

Zardari smells a rat in dodgy degree row timing By Syed Irfan Raza

Thursday, 01 Jul, 2010


ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari went on the offensive on Wednesday over the matter of legislators’ degrees, ruling out their disqualification and accusing “anti-democracy forces” of conspiring against the government.

In a speech loaded with innuendos against his political rivals, Zardari left little doubt that he saw the degree issue as nothing but a smokescreen behind which a plot was being hatched against him.

“I will once again survive attempts to dislodge me from the Presidency and go on to complete my term,” the president said in a speech at a ballot for the Waseela-i-Haq scheme of the Benazir Income Support Programme.

“Sometime back when there was a law on the statute book requiring representatives to produce bachelors’ degree, no one asked questions about academic qualifications of elected members.

“But strangely enough, some people are blowing up the issue out of all proportions now even though the law is no more,” Mr Zardari said.

“People alone have the right to elect their representatives and send them to parliament and provincial assemblies,” he added.

Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for the president, made a feeble attempt to paper over the remarks, saying Mr Zardari had merely urged his detractors not to malign the parliament and democracy.

The issue of academic qualification was first raised by Abid Sher Ali, a leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N and member of the National Assembly Standing Committee on education.

Degrees of some 40 legislators have so far been challenged by their rivals.

The Election Commission, waking up to the gravity of the matter, last week decided to get scrutinised degrees and certificates of all parliamentarians and members of provincial assemblies. It has so far forwarded documents of about 1,100 senators, MNAs and MPAs to the Higher Education Commission for authentication.

Observers now fear that over 100 legislators would stand disqualified for having provided wrong information to the Election Commission about their educational qualifications at the time of submitting their nomination papers.

DAWN.COM | Front Page | Zardari smells a rat in dodgy degree row timing

[Ray Channel]

hahahhhahahaaaa just a nice speech with no implement. the biggest thing is the implement . our leaders must implement what they say other wise what is the quality that they r leading us

[smithbell81]

hi, there. It might be possible that only some of them using the fake diplomas or fake degrees to get promotion in the army field. But I personnel think that it’s the federal who can’t recognize it and they get ahead of it.