ISLAMABAD  -  The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) yesterday started scrutiny of the nomination pa­pers for the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies to contest February 8 general elec­tions as the election watchdog has received over 28,000 nomi­nation papers of political parties and independent candidates.

According to the details com­piled by the ECP, over 7,000 male and nearly 500 female candi­dates have submitted nomina­tion papers for national assem­bly seats. Over 17,000 candidates for provincial assemblies’ seats have submitted their nomination papers, currently under scrutiny by ECP concerned officials, ac­cording to the compiled figures.

The appeals against the accep­tance or rejection of nomination papers can be submitted by Janu­ary 3, and decisions on these ap­peals will be made by January 10.

The list will be finalized on January 11, 2024.

For the reserved seats, the ECP has received nearly 1500 nomi­nation papers, which are under scrutiny. Nearly 400 non-Mus­lims have submitted their nomi­nation papers for provincial as­semblies, according to the data.

Meanwhile, on the reserved seats for non-Muslims, 361 men and 32 women have submitted their nomination papers for pro­vincial assemblies. For national assembly seats, the number stands at 140 and 10, respective­ly. Here’s a brief province-wise breakdown of the nomination papers filed across the country.

SINDH

The ECP has received a total of 6,498 nomination papers in the province, with 1,681 candi­dates seeking to contest polls for the national assembly (general), whereas 4,265 nomination pa­pers were submitted for provin­cial assembly seats (general).

A total of 427 nomination pa­pers were filed for women’s re­served seats, along with 125 who seek to contest polls from the re­served seats for non-Muslims in the province.

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA

A total of 5,278 nomination papers have been filed in the province, with 1,322 candidates seeking to contest polls for the national assembly (general), whereas 3,464 nomination pa­pers were submitted for provin­cial assembly seats (general).

A total of 418 nomination papers were filed for women’s reserved seats, along with 74 non-Muslims applying to contest elections from their respective reserved seats.

BALOCHISTAN

The top electoral body received a total of 2,669 nomination pa­pers of which 631 were for gen­eral national assembly seats, whereas 1,788 were for general provincial assembly seats.

Meanwhile, 183 women along with 67 non-Muslims submit­ted nomination papers for their reserved seats, respectively.

PUNJAB

The province saw a total of 13,823 nomination papers be­ing filed with 3,871 and 9,029 nomination papers being filed for national and provincial as­sembly seats (general), respec­tively. A total of 796 and 127 people filed their nomination papers for the reserved seats for women and non-Muslims, respectively.

ISLAMABAD

The federal capital saw a to­tal of 208 people submitting their nomination papers for the national assembly (gener­al), whereas 150 nomination papers were filed on the re­served seats for non-Muslims.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Khyber Pakh­tunkhwa unveiled the priori­ty lists submitted by political parties for women and minori­ties in the province.

Among the parties, the Paki­stan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has drawn attention with its sub­missions. The National Assem­bly has earmarked 10 seats for women from the province, while the Provincial Assembly comprises 26 seats for women and 4 reserved seats for mi­norities. Among the key reve­lations is the submission of a list of 84 women candidates by political parties for the Pro­vincial Assembly.

Meanwhile, PTI has sub­mitted a list that includes 8 women candidates for the Provincial Assembly, a number lower than the lists provided by some other major parties.

Interestingly, the Jamiat Ule­ma-e-Islam (F) (JUI-F) has tak­en the lead by fielding a maxi­mum of 19 women candidates for the Provincial Assembly. The Awami National Party (ANP) and the People’s Party have submitted lists with 13 women candidates each, while the Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamaat-e-Isla­mi have included 8 women in their respective lists.

For the National Assembly, the People’s Party and the Muslim League have listed 7 and 5 women candidates, re­spectively. Jamaat-e-Islami, ANP, and JUI-F have submit­ted lists featuring four women each.

In a notable contrast, PTI’s submission for the Provin­cial Assembly includes only 3 women candidates, signalling a departure from the trend set by some of the other major po­litical players.

Turning to minority rep­resentation, the JUI-F has list­ed 13 candidates for the four provincial minority seats, while the People’s Party and the PML-N have submitted lists with five candidates each. Interestingly, PTI has present­ed only one minority candi­date for consideration.