PESHAWAR: The returning officers have accepted the nomination papers of 356 candidates for 12 National Assembly seats in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas after declared 16 ineligible to contest elections on various grounds.

The relevant ROs completed the scrutiny of nomination papers on Tuesday and issued lists of 356 candidates fielded by political parties or contesting elections independently on Wednesday.

Former civil servant Ali Begum Khan is the only woman candidate from Fata, which consists of seven tribal regions and six Frontier Regions. She is contesting elections as independent candidate from NA-46 Kurram.

Ex-civil servant Ali Begum Khan only woman candidate

Unlike previous general elections, major political parties including Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Pakistan Peoples Party, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, Awami National Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz have fielded candidates across Fata for the July 25 polls.

The Political Parties Order, which was extended to Fata before the 2013 general elections, allowed political parties to participate in elections.

However, majority of the political parties excluding Jamaat-i-Islami didn’t field candidates in the 2013 general polls.

According to the consolidated lists, the ROs accepted nomination papers of 46 of the 50 candidates for two NA seats in Bajaur region.

The nomination papers of 21 candidates were accepted for one NA seat in Mohmand.

A total of 70 nomination papers were received for two NA seats in Khyber and 69 candidates were declared eligible for contesting polls.

The RO in Miramshah received nomination papers from 41 candidates for one NA seat and they all were accepted.

For two NA seats in Kurram, a total of 76 nomination papers were received. Of them, 10 were rejected.

According to the final list, papers of 24 candidates were accepted for NA-46 Kurram, while 39 candidates were allowed to contest polls for NA-45 Kurram.

The papers of all 35 candidates were found correct for one NA seat in Orakzai.

For two NA seats in South Waziristan, the ROs accepted nomination papers of 58 candidates, while for NA-51 consisting of six FRs, nomination papers of 20 candidates were accepted.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2018