Candidates rush to file nomination papers as deadline looms

Candidates aspiring to contest the February 8 general elections in Pakistan are rushing to submit their nomination papers, as the deadline to file their candidature is set to expire on Sunday.
The nomination process started on December 20 and was initially set to be completed on Friday but the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) extended it for two days on the demand of various political parties.
The National Assembly’s 266 general and 70 reserved seats and over 600 seats of four provincial assemblies are up for grabs.
Several political leaders including PML-N’s Tariq Fazal Chaudhary, former Islamabad mayor Pir Adil Gillani, Sheikh Ansar Aziz, federal capital’s ex-deputy mayors Zeeshan Naqvi and Chaudhry Riffat Javed among others submitted their nomination papers on Sunday.
Already many leading politicians, including incarcerated former premier Imran Khan, former three-time premier Nawaz Sharif, former president Asif Ali Zardari, former prime ministers Yusuf Raza Gilani, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Shehbaz Sharif and many other influential leaders have filed their documents.
Khan has so far filed papers from two constituencies in Lahore and his ancestral town of Mianwali.
But his chances of getting a green signal to contest the election are slim due to his conviction in the Toshakhana corruption case for illegally selling state gifts.
In a setback, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) during the week rejected his plea for suspending his conviction in the case.
Major parties in the election are the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and others local parties are in the field.