ISLAMABAD, Aug 17: The first meeting of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) parliamentary board, held here on Saturday, decided to accept applications of all the former party legislators who stood loyal during the period of crisis.

The board conveyed to such party members aspiring to contest the October elections on PML(N) ticket to complete all the formalities for filing of their nomination papers, Chief Coordinator Ahsan Iqbal told Dawn.

The next meeting of the parliamentary board is scheduled for Aug 22 for finalizing the list of party candidates. The board, so far, had received 980 applications for 248 seats of the National Assembly, Iqbal said.

The central parliamentary board comprises PML(N) Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq, Secretary General Saranjam Khan, Ahsan Iqbal, Chaudhry Nisar Ali, Siddiqul Farooq, Pir Sabir Shah, Zafar Iqbal Jhagra, Makhdoom Shahnawaz, Khawaja Saad Raffique, Begum Tehmina Daultana, Syed Zafar Ali Shah, Shaikh Aftab, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Raja Mohammad Afzal, Ghulam Dastagir Khan, Rana Sanaullah, Chaudhry Safdar Rehman, Mian Mannan, Raja Nadir Pervaiz, Barjees Tahir, Krishan Bhil and Najam Hameed.

Iqbal said Shaikh Rashid Ahmed, a former federal minister from Rawalpindi, had also applied for party ticket.

The board directed the provincial parliamentary boards to hold meetings on Aug 20 and 21 for finalizing the list of party candidates for provincial assemblies.