December 09, 2007	Sunday	Ziqa'ad 28, 1428

QUETTA, Dec 8: The National Party has alleged that the returning officer of Kech has accepted the nomination papers of former minister Mohammad Ali Rind despite the fact that he has been declared disqualified by the Balochistan High Court for holding any public office for ten years.

In a statement issued here on Saturday, a spokesperson for the party alleged that the caretaker government had been interfering in the affairs of the Election Commission and acceptance of Mr Rind’s nomination had proved that the opposition parties’ apprehension about the transparency of the electoral process was right.

The spokesperson said that the returning officer had rejected his party’s objection against the acceptance of Mr Rind’s nomination.

He said the party had also raised objections on the graduation degrees of Mr Rind and Syed Ehsan Shah. He alleged that they had submitted fake degrees.

Syed Ehsan Shah and Mohammad Ali Rind are candidates for PB-48, Kech-1 and PB-49, Kech-2, respectively.

The spokesperson said that the returning officer had also turned down another objection of the party over the age of Yaqoob Bizenjo, a candidate for NA-272, Kech-Gwadar. He claimed that Mr Bizenjo was two years younger than the required age for contesting the elections.