ISLAMABAD, Sept 2: The scrutiny of nomination papers for 1,070 seats of national and provincial assemblies was completed on Monday, pushing two former prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, out of the race.

Secretary, Election Commission, Hasan Mohammad told Dawn that complete data regarding the clearance and rejection of nomination papers would be available with the EC on Tuesday.

The EC had earlier announced that 4,020 nomination papers had been received against 342 national assembly seats, and 9,643 papers against 728 seats of provincial assemblies.

The candidates or their rivals would be able to file appeals against the decision of returning officers, accepting or rejecting the nomination papers, till Sept 6.

The last date for withdrawal of candidature has been fixed at Sept 14. On Sept 15, the final list of candidates will be published.

The polling for election to the national and provincial assemblies and the Senate (only in Fata) will be held on Oct 10.

The returning officers were required to check the documents submitted by the candidates along with their nomination papers which included copies of BA degree and various certificates of clearance that the candidates were not defaulters.

The EC has notified seven Election Tribunals, consisting of high court judges to hear appeals against the orders of returning officers. Of these, three are in Punjab, two in Sindh and one each in the NWFP and Balochistan.

The present government has given wide powers to the Election Tribunals, including suo motu powers, to reject the nomination papers of any candidate on the basis of information received “from any source.”

Article 76A of Representation of Peoples (Amendment) Ordinance, 2002, provides that an election tribunal, on the basis of any material coming to its knowledge from any source or information laid before it, can reject the nomination papers.

The government has also provided the powers to the tribunal to declare the election of any candidate void if it came to the conclusion that the winning candidate was a defaulter of loan, taxes, government dues or utility charges, or had submitted a false or incorrect declaration regarding payment of loan, taxes, government dues or utility charges or has submitted a false or incorrect statement of assets and liabilities of his own, his spouse, or his dependents.

Prominent among those whose papers were rejected included Benazir Bhutto and Ghinwa Bhutto, while Nawaz Sharif withdrew his nomination papers before scrutiny.

Three tribunals have been set up for Punjab. The tribunal comprising Justice Tassadaq Hussain Jilani and Justice Abdul Shakoor Paracha will decide the election appeals of the national assembly constituencies NA-48 and NA-49 (federal capital), NA-50 Rawalpindi-I to NA-74 Bhakkar-II. The same tribunal will also decide the appeals of constituencies of the provincial assembly, Punjab, from constituency No. PP-1 Rawalpindi to PP-50 Bhakkar-IV and the seats reserved for non-Muslims from Punjab province, federal capital and for seats reserved for women in the national assembly from Punjab province.

Another tribunal comprising Justice Mian M Najamuz Zaman and Justice Pervaiz Ahmad will decide the appeals of national assembly constituencies NA-75 Faisalabad-I to NA-147 Okara-V, provincial assembly of Punjab from constituency No PP-51 Faisalabad-I to PP-193 Okara-IX and seats reserved for the non-Muslims and women in the provincial assembly Punjab.

The third tribunal comprising Justice Raja Muhammad Sabir and Justice M Naeemullah Khan Sherwani of the Lahore High Court will decide the appeals of national assembly constituencies No. NA-148 Multan-I to NA-197 Rahimyar Khan-VI and constituencies of the provincial assembly, Punjab, from constituencies No PP-194 Multan-I to PP-297 Rahimyar Khan-XII.

Similarly two tribunals have been set up for Sindh. The tribunal comprising Justice Muhammad Roshan Esani and Justice Muhammad Moosa K Leghari of the Sindh High Court will decide the appeals of national assembly constituencies No NA-218 Hyderabad-I to NA-258 Karachi-XX, constituencies of the provincial assembly, Sindh, from constituencies No. PS-43 Hyderabad-I to PS-130 Karachi-CXII and seats reserved for the non-Muslims and women in the national assembly from Sindh province and provincial assembly of Sindh.

The second tribunal comprising Justice Syed Zawwar Hussain Jaffery and Justice Mohammad Sadiq Leghari of the Sindh High Court will decide appeals for the national assembly constituencies No. NA-198 Sukkur-I to NA-217 Khairpur-III and constituencies of the provincial assembly, Sindh, from constituency No. PS-1 Sukkur-I to PS-42 Larkana-VII.

The tribunal for the NWFP will consist of Justice Abdur Rauf Khan Lughmani and Justice Ijaz Afzal Khan to decide the appeals of national assembly constituencies NA-1 Peshawar-I to NA-47 Tribal Areas-XII, constituencies of the provincial assembly from constituency PF-1 Peshawar-I to PF-99 Malakand, Protected Area-II and seats reserved for the non-Muslims from NWFP and Fata and for seats reserved for women in the national assembly from NWFP and provincial assembly.

For Baluchistan, the tribunal will comprise Justice Amanullah Khan and Justice Fazalur Rehman of the BHC to decide the appeals of national assembly constituencies No. NA-259 Quetta-I to NA-272 Kech-cum Gawadar, constituencies of the provincial assembly, Balochistan, from constituency No. PB-1 Quetta-I to PB-51 Gawadar and seats reserved for the non-Muslims and women in the national assembly from Balochistan and provincial assembly.