Bill banning candidates from running for multiple seats passed

ISLAMABAD: Before the general elections, the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Law and Justice has passed a bill to ban candidates from running for multiple seats, ARY News reported on

The session of the NA Standing Committee on Law and Justice was held under the chair of Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk today.

A bill was presented before the NA body to restrict candidates from contesting polls on multiple seats. The bill was passed by the majority of votes of the body’s members.

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Prior to the legislation, political leaders used to run for 9 to 10 seats in different constituencies.

A committee member said that the national exchequer bears expenses of approximately Rs110 million for conducting elections in a constituency as per the estimation of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), whereas, the elected candidate can only possess one seat after winning the polls.

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The member said that the national economy is weak to bear such unnecessary expenses.

The member added that it would be a waste of public funds for holding by-polls on the vacant seats which should be stopped.

Later, the legislation was passed by the majority of the NA body’s members.

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Moreover, the NA Standing Committee on Law and Justice deferred the bill to create a new province in South Punjab. The chairman said that a two-thirds majority is required in the parliament to pass the bill.

“The bill for granting South Punjab a new province was presented by the previous government. The country is going to enter the general elections phase in a few days. The elected government would decide the fate of the bill for declaring South Punjab a new province.”