As compared to 2013 general elections, lesser number of candidates have filed their nomination papers for the upcoming general elections as against 28,302, a total of 21,482 nomination papers have been filed across the Country for national and provincial assemblies seats for July 25 polls.
As per the comparison between nomination papers filed by the prospective candidates for general elections 2013 and 2018, 2,700 candidates have filed their nomination papers for National assembly seats from Punjab including Islamabad for forthcoming polls whereas in last general elections, 4,160 candidates tried their luck from the described region.
For 2018 general elections, 1,346 candidates have submitted their nomination papers with the Returning Officers (ROs) for National assembly seats from Sindh against 2,007 filed in last elections, 435 nomination papers filed from Balochistan against 439, and 992 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including FATA against 1,390.
Similarly, 6,747 candidates have submitted their nominations with the ROs for Punjab assembly seats for upcoming polls against 9,392, 3,693 for Sindh assembly seats against 5,213, 1,400 for Balochistan assembly seats against 1,648, and 1,920 for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly seats against 2,572.
However the number of women prospective candidates has increased as compared to 2013. For 2018 general elections, a total of 436 women have filed their nomination papers for National assembly seats from across the Country and 1,255 for provincial assemblies seats while in last elections, the numbers remained 350 and 821 respectively.
Likewise, 154 non-Muslim candidates have jumped into the election battle for National assembly seats this year and 471 for provincial assemblies seats whereas in 2013 elections, the number of provincial level candidates was 310.
