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.