113 non-Muslim candidates to run for PA seats, compared to 175 in last election

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has finalized 12,570 candidates for the upcoming general elections, of which 113 are non-Muslims candidates contesting from provincial assemblies and 44 contesting for a seat in National Assembly.

This year, however, the total number of non-Muslim candidates in both national and provincial assemblies has decreased compared to last year. According to the report released by ECP, 44 non-Muslims will run for NA seats while 113 for the provincial assembly seats.

Compared to previous elections of 2013, this year non-Muslim candidates contesting for provincial assemblies have decreased by 35.4pc and NA has seen a decrease of 38pc.

In Balochistan, 22 non-Muslims will be vying to get a seat in provincial assembly this year, while in previous general election 37 candidates contested. Similarly, 20 non-Muslim candidates have been approved by ECP for Khyber Paktunkhwa (KP) Assembly, compared to 28 in previous polls.

On the other hand, 55 non-Muslim candidates each from Punjab and Sindh contested in elections 2013 for provincial assemblies. However, only 32 and 39 are now competing for seats in Punjab and Sindh assemblies respectively.