As all eyes are on the much-awaited February 8 general elections, the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) second deadline for filing nomination papers for the national and provincial assemblies’ seats concluded today (Sunday) at 4:30pm as the electoral watchdog is all set to carry out scrutiny of documents from tomorrow (Monday).
Earlier, the electoral watchdog set a deadline of December 22 for filing the nomination papers, however, the date was extended to facilitate the aspiring candidates and political parties.
As per the schedule, scrutiny of the nomination papers will be carried out from tomorrow to the 30th of this month.
Appeals against the acceptance or rejection of nomination papers can be submitted until the 3rd of January and decisions on these appeals will be made by January 10.
The list of candidates will be displayed on January 11, and candidates would have the option to withdraw until January 12.
The electoral symbols will be allotted on the 13th of January, and polling for the general elections will be held on February 8.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan has given more time to foreign observers who want to monitor the general elections.
Now, they can submit their applications from December 31 to January 20.
In Sindh, 552 nomination papers were submitted for the reserved seats. The ECP received 118 and 309 nomination papers for seats reserved for women in the national and provincial assemblies respectively. 125 nomination papers were filed for reserved seats for minorities.
According to KP Election Commissioner’s spokesman Sohail Ahmad, 472 nomination papers have been filed for the reserved seats for women and minorities in national and provincial assemblies.
Bilawal files nomination papers from NA-194
Earlier in the day, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari filed nomination papers for contesting elections from his party’s stronghold NA-194 (Larkana).
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari (right) submits his nomination papers for the February 8 general elections on December 24, 2023. — X/ @MediaCellPPP
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari (right) submits his nomination papers for the February 8 general elections on December 24, 2023. — X/ @MediaCellPPP
The PPP’s top leader submitted his nomination papers today hours before the expiry of the extended deadline.
After filing the nomination papers, Bilawal while talking to the media said the PPP’s fight is not against any political party but against inflation, poverty and unemployment.
He also said that his party wanted to give labourers and farmers their due rights. “Healthcare facilities should be free for the citizens.” He urged the people to vote for his party in the upcoming general elections.
Earlier today, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and Senior Vice-President Maryam Nawaz filed nomination papers from different constituencies for the general elections.
PML-N leader Bilal Yasin submitted the nomination papers on behalf of Nawaz Sharif from NA-130 (Lahore-XIV), while Maryam submitted her papers for two National Assembly (NA-119 and NA-120) constituencies.
Maryam also submitted nomination papers from four constituencies of the Punjab Assembly — PP-159, PP-160, PP-165 and PP-80.
Bilawal had challenged the Sharif brothers in their stronghold of Lahore in the February 8 polls.
The PPP chief on December 22 had also filed nomination papers from the NA-128 constituency in Lahore which has been traditionally the stronghold of the PML-N with the party securing a majority of seats from the provincial capital in the last many elections.
Along with Bilawal, PPP’s Hafiz Ghulam Mohiuddin also filed nomination papers from the NA-128 and PP-170 constituencies while the party’s Misbah-ur-Rehman filed nomination papers for the PP-169 seat in the same constituency.
Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) patron-in-chief Jahangir Khan Tareen has filed nomination papers form NA-155 and PP-227 for contesting the upcoming elections.
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