Nomination papers’ scrutiny in full swing

ISLAMABAD: The process of scrutiny of nomination papers filed by candidates for forthcoming general election, schedule to be held on July 25, is in full swing.

According to a spokesman of Elections Commission of Pakistan (ECP), data of more than 19,500 candidates has been shared with National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), NADRA, and the State Bank of Pakistan through an online system under its scrutiny process.

Verification of about 10,000 nomination papers has so far been completed with the help of online data scrutiny system. These nomination papers have now been forwarded to the respective Returning Officers.

As per the election schedule, the scrutiny process will conclude on July 19. While appeals against rejection or acceptance of nomination papers can be filed by July 22.

The appellate tribunals will decide the appeals by July 27, after which the revised list of candidates will be published the next day.

Candidates can withdraw their nomination papers by June 29, and the electoral body will announce the final list of candidates on the same day. The electoral symbols will be issued to candidates on June 30. Polling will be held on July 25. A total of 21,482 nomination papers have been filed by candidates across the country for general election.

According to the ECP, 6063 candidates are contesting for 342 seats of the National Assembly. This includes 5,473 candidates for general seats, 436 for seats reserved for women, and 154 candidates for non-Muslim seats.

There are 2,700 candidates in the field for National Assembly, and 6,747 for provincial assembly from Punjab including Islamabad; 1346 for National Assembly and 3,626 for provincial assembly from Sindh; 992 for National Assembly and 1920 for provincial assembly from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including FATA; and in Balochistan, 435 candidates are contesting for National Assembly and 1400 for provincial assembly seats.

A total of 436 people have filed nomination papers for seats reserved for women in National Assembly. They include 236 candidates from Punjab, 76 from Sindh, 88 from KP and 36 from Balochistan.

There are 1255 candidates contesting for reserved seats for women in provincial assemblies. This includes 665 from Punjab, 213 from Sindh, 262 from KP and 116 from Balochistan. There are 471 candidates vying for seats reserved for non-Muslims in all four provinces. Out of them, 232 people have filed nomination papers from Punjab, 110 from Sindh, 73 from KP and 56 from Balochistan.