A day after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced the schedule for general elections, political parties are yet to announce lists of candidates.
Former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif, from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz PML-N, will reportedly contest polls from Lahore.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, another former Prime Minister, who hails from Murree but was elected from Lahore, has opted to not contest the upcoming elections.
Two ex-PMs from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf will be contesting from Multan and Gujar Khan respectively.
PML-N Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz will be contesting from Lahore and Karachi, while PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will be a candidate from Karachi and Larkana.
Former President and PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari will try his luck from Nawabshah.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman will be contesting from Dera Ismail Khan.
Jamat e Islami Ameer Siraj-ul-Haq will contest polls from Peshawar.
PML-N is expected to finalise the list of all its candidates next week, The News has reported.
As per sources, PML-N has concluded work on more than 70% of constituencies for choosing candidates and the list of the first batch of ticketholders might be made public tomorrow (Sunday).
The party’s parliamentary board conducted 10 meetings to finalise candidate names from various areas and is expected to complete the task on Monday (December 18).
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Awami National Party (ANP), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and regional parties will issue the list of their candidates by the mid of next week.
They are engaged in seat adjustment with other parties while the fate of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is still hanging in the balance as the ECP gives its verdict on its intra-party elections on Monday.
