Vetting begins today as nomination filing concludes

Election officials commence scrutiny of thousands of nomination papers for the upcoming general elections starting Monday.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is yet to provide a consolidated number, but observers anticipate it to be in the thousands, covering over 800 national and provincial assembly constituencies.

In the second phase of the election process, the responsibility falls on the returning officers (ROs) who will undertake the rigorous task of scrutinizing the nomination papers. This evaluation is scheduled to take place from Monday through Saturday.

The decisions rendered by the ROs will then be subject to filing with appellate tribunals until January 3, 2024.To facilitate this appellate process, the ECP, on Sunday, officially notified the formation of 24 appellate tribunals.

Comprising judicial officers, including high court judges, these tribunals will be vested with the authority to address and adjudicate on all appeals until January 10.

A myriad of political heavyweights, representing various parties, submitted their nomination papers. Among the prominent figures were the Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Nawaz Sharif.

The PML-N supremo submitted nomination papers not only for NA-130 in Lahore but also for NA-15 in Mansehra, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). Noteworthy contenders in the same constituency include his son-in-law, Capt (retd) Safdar, Azam Swati of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and Mufti Kifayatullah of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).

On the day of submission, Nawaz also presented his papers for NA-130 in Lahore, where he faces competition from PTI’s Dr. Yasmin Rashid and PPP’s Ahmad Khan, among 21 other candidates.

In the federal capital, Islamabad, a total of 209 candidates submitted their nomination papers for the three National Assembly seats. Meanwhile, in the twin city of Rawalpindi, a staggering 270 candidates are vying for seven National Assembly seats, with an additional 652 candidates competing for 14 seats in the Punjab Assembly.

Read ECP deadline for candidates to submit nomination papers for polls expires 

Rawalpindi has emerged as a political battleground with prominent figures seeking re-election, including former prime minister and Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf, Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan, Sheikh Rashid, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Hanif Abbasi, Malik Abrar, Chaudhary Daniyal, and Rashid Shafiq.

This electoral cycle witnesses a notable increase in the participation of legal professionals, with a substantial number of lawyers entering the political arena. Each constituency now boasts the candidacy of 10 to 15 lawyers.

A notable absence in this electoral iteration is former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi from Murree Tehsil, who chose not to submit his nomination papers.

In the southern province of Sindh, a total of 2,557 candidates submitted their nomination papers for 22 seats in the National Assembly and 47 seats in the Sindh Assembly across seven districts in Karachi. Additionally, 552 candidates submitted their nomination forms for three National Assembly seats and six Sindh Assembly seats in Hyderabad.

Major political players in Sindh, including the PPP, PML-N, MQM-P, TLP, JUI-F, JUP, and several independents, are actively participating in the electoral process.In Karachi, MQM-P Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui submitted three papers from the Central district, while PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif submitted his nomination form for a seat in the Keamari district. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto opted not to file papers from Karachi, instead filing for NA-194, Larkana-I.

The ECP received a total of 552 nomination papers for reserved seats in Sindh. Various political parties submitted their priority lists for reserved seats for women and minorities in national and provincial assemblies. The PPP submitted a list of 52 candidates, while MQM submitted 26 names.

Moving to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), a total of 53 nomination papers were filed for women-reserved seats. For general seats, former chief minister Mahmood Khan filed nomination papers for NA-2, NA-3, and NA-4 Swat, as well as for PK-4 Swat.

Former federal minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour and PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat submitted nomination papers for the NA-32 constituency in Peshawar. In the provincial capital, a local TikTokker, Sundal Khattak, entered the electoral arena by filing her documents for a women's reserved seat.