• Latif Khosa, Liaquat Baloch, Sadiq Sanjrani among prominent politicians to submit papers
• Ishaq Dar urges electoral watchdog to extend deadline for two days

LAHORE: Several candidates, both backed by political parties and the independent ones, submitted their nomination papers on Thursday for the coming general elections, scheduled for Feb 8.

The process to receive and submit nomination papers, which began on Wednesday, gained momentum on Thursday after many candidates rushed to the offices of their respective returning officers appointed by the Election Commission of Pakistan to obtain papers before the Dec 22 (today) deadline.

In Lahore, PML-N Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz Sharif has reportedly received nomination papers. She is expected to contest elections on a national or provincial assembly constituency from Lahore and submit nomination papers today.

According to sources, as many as 300 candidates received nomination papers on the second day of the ECP schedule in this regard.

Those who submitted papers on Thursday included PTI leader and lawyer Sardar Latif Khosa, who will contest from the NA-122 constituency. Another lawyer, Salman Akram Raja, is reportedly set to submit papers for NA-128. Liaqat Baloch, the vice emir of Jamaat-i-Islami, submitted papers for both NA-123 and NA-128 seats.

Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) leader Shoaib Siddiqi filed nomination papers for NA-119 and PP-170. He also submitted papers for PP-149 and PP-150.

PPP’s Shagufta Javaid and Munazza Sonia Khan also filed their papers, while the PTI’s Dr Shaheena, Shahida Ahmad and PML-N’s Uzma Kardar also submitted papers.

Since former premier Shehbaz Sharif has also obtained papers for NA-123, he is expected to submit them today. PML-N’s Saba Sadiq, Fatima Begum and Shahid Butt also filed their papers.

From the Sargodha division, former MNA Mukhtar Ahmad Bharath and Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha submitted their nomination papers for NA-82 and NA-83. Tasneem Ahmad Qureshi also submitted his nomination paper for NA-84.

Suhaib Bharath, Rana Muhammad Hanif, Arif Hussain Tatla, Azizul Haq Piracha and others also filed papers.

In the Faisalabad division, Riaz Fatiana and Ashfa Riaz filed nomination papers for NA-107. Several others who either received or submitted papers in various constituencies of the division included Rana Sanaullah, Abid Sher Ali, Amir Hayat, Muhammad Haris, Hafiz Ataullah, Abdul Idris, and Jahanzeb Imtiaz Gill.

In Multan, as many as 72 candidates submitted nomination papers., including PML-N candidate Tahir Rasheed, who filed his papers for NA-149.

Those who received or filed papers in Bahawalpur and other districts included Samiullah Chaudhry, Safdar Malik, Rizwan Rasheed, Mian Shahid Iqbal, Tauqeer Ahmad, Alamgir Mansha, Ch Nazir Arain, Saeed Manais, Mehmood Hayat Toochi, Jahanzeb Khichi, Azmat Ullah, Khizar Hayat Bhabha, Ghazala Wyne, Aslam Bodla and Adnan Lurka.

Sanjrani to contest from NA-262

In Balochistan, the filing of nomination papers for 16 national and 51 provincial assembly seats continued on Thursday. Prominent among those who submitted their nomination papers were the Senate Chairman and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) leader Sadiq Sanjrani, who will contest from Quetta’s NA-262 and PB-32.

BAP’s secretary general, Senator Manzoor Kakar, has filed nomination papers for PB-39 in Quetta, while the party’s chief organiser, Mir Jan Mohammad Khan Jamali, has submitted papers for this traditional home constituency of PB-17- in Jafarabad.

Former PPP Balochistan president Mir Sadiq Umrani and former provincial minister Babu Amin Umrani of PPP have also submitted their nomination papers from Jafarabad.

PML-N’s provincial president, Sheikh Jaffar Khan Mandokhail, will also submit his nomination papers from his traditional provincial assembly seat of PB-2 in Zhob.

Two-day extension sought

Meanwhile, the PML-N has written a letter to the ECP seeking a two-day extension in the deadline to submit nomination papers.

“It is requested to allow only a two-day extension in filing of nomination papers by amending the schedule issued on Dec 15 without changing the polling day,” PML-N election cell chairman Ishaq Dar said in the letter.

Zulqernain Tahir in Lahore and Saleem Shahid in Quetta also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2023