Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday filed nomination papers for contesting the February 8 general elections from his party’s stronghold NA-194 (Larkana).
The PPP’s top leader submitted his nomination papers hours before the expiry of the extended deadline by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). After filing the nomination papers, Bilawal told to the media said the PPP’s fight is not against any political party but against inflation, poverty and unemployment. He also said that his party wanted to give labourers and farmers their due rights. “Healthcare facilities should be free for the citizens.” He urged the people to vote for his party in the upcoming general elections.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and Senior Vice-President Maryam Nawaz filed nomination papers from different constituencies for the general elections. PML-N leader Bilal Yasin submitted the nomination papers on behalf of Nawaz Sharif from NA-130 (Lahore-XIV), while Maryam submitted her papers for two National Assembly (NA-119 and NA-120) constituencies. Maryam also submitted nomination papers from four constituencies of the Punjab Assembly – PP-159, PP-160, PP-165 and PP-80. Bilawal had challenged the Sharif brothers in their stronghold of Lahore in the February 8 polls. The PPP chief on December 22 had also filed nomination papers from the NA-128 constituency in Lahore which has been traditionally the stronghold of the PML-N with the party securing a majority of seats from the provincial capital in the last many elections.
Along with Bilawal, PPP’s Hafiz Ghulam Mohiuddin also filed nomination papers from the NA-128 and PP-170 constituencies while the party’s Misbah-ur-Rehman filed nomination papers for the PP-169 seat in the same constituency. Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) patron-in-chief Jahangir Khan Tareen has filed nomination papers form NA-155 and PP-227 for contesting the upcoming elections. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Dr Yasmin Rashid has also filed her nomination papers from NA-130. Veteran politician and former federal minister, Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, and PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat filed nomination papers for the NA-32 constituency in Peshawar.
Similarly, former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Mahmood Khan has filed nomination papers for NA 2, NA 3, and NA 4 Swat. He also submitted nomination papers for PK-4 Swat. PTI leader Hammad Azhar said he had “finally” submitted his papers after “order from the court and intervention by the district election officer of Lahore”. “Interesting aspect to note was that police had the fullest intention to defy court orders had the election officer not come himself to the premises,” he said.
The PTI also said that Murad Saeed’s nomination papers were submitted for NA-3 and NA-4 in Swat. Lawyer and activist Jibran Nasir said he had submitted his nomination papers for NA-241 and PS-110. Meanwhile, the PPP and the PML-N also released the lists of their members for the reserved seats for women and minorities in the National Assembly. The PPP’s list of minority members included Ramesh Lal, Naveed Aamir Jeeva, Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, Lal Chand Ukrani, Imran Afique Athwal, Naseeb Chand, Jaffar George, Basroo Jee, Adven Masih and Beari Lal.
Its member list for the reserved seats for women included Shazia Marri, Nafeesa Shah, Shagufta Jumani, Shahida Rehmani, Shehla Raza, Mehtab Akbar Rashidi, Musarrat Rafique Mahesar, Mehreen Razaque Bhutto, Shazia Sobia Aslam Soomro, Naz Baloch, Sehar Kamran Mudassir, Sharmila Sabehah Farooqi and Shazia Nizamani. The PML-N’s list for reserved seats for women included Tahira Aurangzeb, Shaista Pervaiz, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Nuzhat Sadiq, Musarrat Asif Khawaja, Seema Jillani, Shaza Khawaja, Romina Khursheed Alam, Wajeeha Qamar, Zeb Jaffar, Kiran Dar, Anusha Rahman Khan, Zahra Wadood Fatemi, Asiya Naz Tanoli, Saba Sadiq, Farah Naz Akbar, Shahnaz Saleem, Muneeba Iqbal, Iffat Naeem and Tamkeen Akhtar Niazi.
