ISLAMABAD: The percentage of filing nomination papers for the upcoming general elections has witnessed around 24.28 per cent decrease as compared to the election held in 2013.
According to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), as many as 21,482 candidates have filed nomination papers to contest upcoming elections for national and provincial assemblies as compared to 28,302 in general election 2013.
A total of 5,473 candidates have filed their nominations for the National Assembly general seats for the upcoming election as compared to 7,996 in general election 2013, while 436 candidates have filed their nominations for reserved women and non-Muslim seats for upcoming election as compared to 350 in the last election.
As per the ECP data, 1,400 candidates have shown willingness to contest upcoming elections from Balochistan province as compared to 1,648 during the previous election. As many as 1920 candidates have submitted their nomination papers for 2018-polls from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while during last general 2,572 candidates had filed the papers.
In Punjab province, as many as 6,747 candidates have submitted nomination papers for the upcoming elections as compared to 9,392 in election held in 2013.
In Sindh province, around 3,626 candidates have filed their nomination papers for upcoming polls, while 5,231 candidates had filed their papers during the last general elections.
Various political parties have nominated 1726 candidates against women and non-Muslim seats in all provinces as compared to 1,131 of the last election.
As per the election schedule, appeals against rejection or acceptance of nomination papers can be filed by 22nd of this month.
The Appellate Tribunals will decide the appeals by 27th, after which the revised list of candidates will be published on 28th of this month.
Candidates can withdraw their nomination papers by 29th June and the electoral body will announce the final list of candidates the same day.
The election commission will allot the electoral symbols to candidates on 30th June while polling will be held on 25th of the next month.
