Scrutiny of candidates begins in right earnest

ECP suspends two returning officers for three months for misconduct

ISLAMABAD: A total of 21,482 nomination papers were filed for National Assembly and four provincial assemblies for the upcoming July 25 general elections, according to data compiled by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The returning officers have started to conduct scrutiny of candidates from Tuesday, which will continue till June 19. The data suggests a total of 21,482 nomination papers filed from June 4th to June 11 out of which 5,473 nominations were filed for 272 constituencies of National Assembly.

With regards to the 60 women reserved seats in the National Assembly, a total of 436 candidates are in the run as of now while 154 candidates have filed nomination for 10 reserved seats for non-Muslims.

Balochistan Assembly

A total of 1,400 nominations have been filed for 51 directly elected general seats while 116 nominations have been filed for 11 seats reserved for women. Moreover, 56 candidates are contesting for the three non-Muslim reserved seats.



K-P Assembly

The nominations received for 99 general seats of the provincial assembly are 1,920 while 262 nominations have been received for 22 women reserved seats. Candidates who have filed nomination papers for the three non-Muslim seats are 73.  Another 22 seats will be added in the K-P Assembly once elections are held in FATA after one year.

Punjab Assembly

The ECP recorded a total of 6,747 nominations for the 297 directly elected constituencies while 664 candidates filed papers for the 66 women reserved seats.  A total of 232 nominations have been submitted for the eight seats reserved for non-Muslims.

Sindh

Nominations for the 130 directly elected seats stood at 3,626 while 213 nominations were filed for the 29 seats reserved for women. With regards to the seats reserved for non-Muslims, a total of 110 nominations have been filed.

The ECP on Tuesday directed the Establishment secretary to appoint new chief secretaries and IGs. A meeting on election security arrangements, which was to be held on June 13 has been postponed to June 14. New appointments should be finalised today (Wednesday).

ECP suspends ROs



The ECP has suspended Abdul Raheem, a superintendent of local government department who was appointed returning officer for PB-26, a Balochistan Assembly constituency. The notification said that he would remain suspended from his service for three months for misconduct.



Moreover, Altaf Shaikh who is an executive engineer from Khairpur was appointed returning officer for NA-209 was also suspended from service for three months on similar charges. It is for the first time that ECP is taking action against such officials on its own.