Pakistan seeks strategy to enlist missing voters

ISLAMABAD, July 30 (Reuters) Pakistan's Election Commission is considering new ways to enlist voters after a Supreme Court order and complaints millions of citizens are missing from draft electoral lists, a senior government official said today.

After allegations of rigging in the 2002 election, President Pervez Musharraf is under mounting international pressure to ensure polls due later this year are fair and free, but controversy has already propped up over the draft voters' list unveiled in June.

''The commission will meet on Wednesday to discuss a strategy and... modalities in the light of the Supreme Court's orders to ensure inclusion of voters missing in the list,'' the commission's Secretary Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad told Reuters.

Controversy over electoral lists surfaced after officials released a provisional list of around 52 million eligible voters, 20 million fewer than for polls five years ago.

Dilshad said the number has increased to about 55 million after a period of more than a month in which people could file objections and claims.

The commission has said the state-run National Database and Registration Authority erred in preparing electoral lists for 2002 by registering many people who did not have national identity cards.

Unmoved by the commission's explanation, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto filed a complaint in the Supreme Court last month, saying polls held using the new lists would be unacceptable.

Independent poll observers say the numbers should have been even higher than the 72 million voters registered for 2002 polls, as millions had since crossed the 18-year age minimum for voting eligibility.

The observers have been suggesting accepting other photo documents, not just national identity cards, to verify a voter.

Secretary Dilshad said the commission's Wednesday meeting might also discuss the issue. Under existing laws, the national identity card is a must.

While election activities are yet to take off in the South Asian Muslim nation of 160 million people, the political climate is warmer following a surprise meeting between Musharraf and Bhutto in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

What transpired there has not been made public but, according to Pakistani media, General Musharraf's dual role as president and army chief remained the sticking point.

Musharraf wants to be re-elected by the sitting assemblies while still army chief. Benazir says he should get re-elected after parliamentary elections, and stand as a civilian.

The twice-elected Benazir is looking to end her years of self-exile in Dubai and London and make a comeback as prime minister for the third time.

REUTERS PD BD1612