RAWALPINDI, March 24: On Sunday, the first day of nominations for the upcoming general elections, as many as 30 nomination papers were collected in Rawalpindi.

No candidates from the PPP or the PML-N, however, collected nomination papers, reflecting the two main parties' indecision regarding their candidates for the city's seats.

The Pakistan Peoples Party's situation has recently become more complicated. Its city president, Amir Fida Paracha, who lost the NA-55 seat in 2008 to the PML-N's Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, told party leaders that he did not want to contest the 2013 elections.

"It would be difficult for me to approach the public for votes," he told Dawn, "since I have no recent development work to my credit."

For the past five years, he continued, the PPP had not contributed any development to Rawalpindi, nor done anything for "the betterment of the party workers." Facing a shortage of suitable candidates for not just NA-55 but also another Rawalpindi seat, NA-56, PPP leaders insist that Paracha should take part in the elections.

PML-N candidates have expressed interest in Rawalpindi seats, with former MNAs Malik Shakil Awan and Hanif Abbasi eying NA-55 and NA-56, and party president Sardar Naseem considering the former. Expected seat adjustment in NA-56 with the Jamaat-i-Islami has delayed the PML-N's decisions, though party leaders maintain that "things will clear up within a week."

Perhaps because of the confusion within the PPP and the PML-N, this Sunday did not have the usual energy of the opening of election season. No major rallies were held or announcements made, and candidates sent workers to obtain nomination forms from the returning officers.

Party leaders say that "a show of strength" will be made when forms are submitted, within a few days, but workers suggested other problems.

Mohammad Haroon, a PML-N worker in NA-55, said the new nomination problems had contributed to the desultory spirit of the day. "The new forms are more complicated," he said. "They'll take some time to fill. The candidates will seek advice from lawyers."

The last day to submit nomination papers is March 29, after which they will be scrutinised by the returning officers by April 5. Appeals against the ROs acceptance or rejection of nomination papers must be filed by April 9, and a tribunal will make decisions on appeals by April 16. Candidates can withdraw from the elections until April 17, and a revised list of candidates will be published the next day, a few weeks before polling on May 11.

The district election commissioner, Zahoor Ahmed Pasha, acknowledged that no nomination papers had been filed on Sunday, but said across Rawalpindi division, "more than 240 nomination forms had been collected from returning officers."

This year, forms can also be collected from the election commission officers or downloaded from their website, and candidates need not come themselves to collect the forms, though they do have to appear before the ROs when submitting the papers.

In Rawalpindi, former railway minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed collected nomination forms for NA-55 and NA-56, and his nephew, Rashid Shafique, obtained a form for NA-55. All of the JI candidates across the district got their forms, as did two candidates from the MQM.

A candidate from the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf, Fiazul Hasan Chohan, obtained nomination forms for NA-56 and PP-14.

The district courts in Rawalpindi were in charge of distributing forms for five National seats and 10 provincial assembly seats. Forms for NA-51, PP-3 and PP-4 were handled in Gujar Khan, and papers for NA-53, PP-7 and PP-8 were distributed in Taxila.