Pakistan poll body announces guidelines for intending election candidates

Islamabad [Pakistan], December 19 (ANI): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) made public the rules it would follow for candidates wishing to file nominations for seats in the national and provincial assemblies, ARY News reported on Tuesday.
As per the election schedule, nomination papers are accepted from December 20 to December 22.
The nomination papers can be filed from 8:30 in the morning until 4:30 in the afternoon. "The nomination fees for the National Assembly candidates and provincial assemblies' candidates have been (PKR) 30,000 and 20,000, respectively," the ECP said.
The candidate has two options for paying the fees: cash or depositing it at a bank location. "A candidate will submit his/her income tax returns of three years, annexed with nomination papers," the guidelines read, according to ARY News.
"The age of a candidate on last date of submitting the nomination papers must not be lesser than 25 years," the ECP said.
"A candidate of the National Assembly seat must be a voter of any place within Pakistan". "A candidate of a provincial assembly must be a native of the concerned province," the ECP announced.
According to ECP, voters in the relevant constituency must suggest and support a candidate for a general seat.
Pakistan's general elections are slated to take place on February 8 in 2024.
Meanwhile, the process of filing nomination papers will finally begin on Wednesday after 144 district returning officers and 859 returning officers across the country take their oath on Tuesday. This will be followed by the issuance of public notices to formally invite nominations, Dawn News reported.
The Election Commission of Pakistan, also advised the Political parties to submit priority lists of their candidates on the seats reserved for women and non-Muslims on or before December 22. According to the timeline already notified by the ECP, all prospective electoral candidates can file their nomination papers between December 20 and December 22, Dawn News reported. (ANI)