ISLAMABAD, July 11 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – As Pakistan's military President Pervez Musharraf is determined to enforce his concept of a controlled democracy, ignoring a groundswell of opposition, Pakistan's Supreme Court Thursday upheld a new law banning people without university degrees from contesting elections, news agencies reported.

On Wednesday, July 10, 2002, Musharraf set October 10 as the date for the first polls to parliament since he grabbed power almost three years ago, fulfilling his pledge to adhere to a Supreme Court order to restore parliamentary democracy by holding elections before October 12, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Opponents of the decree (of university degree) say it bars 99% of the population from standing in elections to parliament and provincial assemblies, according to BBC’s online news service.

However, Chief Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmed dismissed the opposition parties' petition Thursday, saying he and four colleagues reached a unanimous decision.

The challenge to the decree was mounted by the Pakistan Muslim League Qaid-i-Azam group (PML-Q), Awami National Party and Pakistan Awami Party.

These parties are generally considered sympathetic to the government of Musharraf.

The main opposition parties were swift to attack the court's verdict.

Iqbal Haider, former Law Minister and a leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), said it was undemocratic.

"It will amount to denying 99% of the people in Pakistan the right to contest elections.

"Only about 1% of the population are graduates."

Pakistan has a literacy rate of just over 30%.

Most Pakistani political parties stand to lose as large numbers of established politicians become ineligible to run.

The decree eliminates more than 25 former MPs from the PML-Q alone.

Another recent decree bars politicians who served two terms as Prime Minister or Provincial Chief Minister from serving a third term.

It is believed to be aimed primarily at preventing the return to power of former Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto.

In the past three weeks, the Pakistani President set out many restrictions on candidates and laid the groundwork for new presidential powers that observers say the parliament elected will be a lame-duck body subservient to Musharraf's military, reported AFP.

Two months after a referendum on April 30, branded a farce by observers, Musharraf decreed that Parliamentary runners must hold a university degree.

He also unveiled proposals to bar from elections anyone convicted of corruption or misuse of power.

The proposed constitutional changes also invest the presidency with powers to sack the Prime Minister and lower House of Parliament.

Analysts speculate that perhaps the wide praise Musharraf won last year for siding with the United States in its war in Afghanistan bolstered his confidence to alter Pakistan's political system to the point of curbing civilian power.

Musharraf's hands are expected to be strengthened by the court's verdict, however, troubles are far from over, BBC reported.

Several mainstream parties say the government is opposed to the restoration of what they describe as "true democracy", accuse it of seeking to manipulate the election.