PESHAWAR: The Election Commission of Pakistan on Friday announced that the minimum age for a candidate contesting the upcoming local government elections was 21 years, whereas a candidate for seats reserved for youth should be aged from 21 years to 30 years.

The office of provincial election commissioner, ECP, said the filing of nomination papers for the three tiers of local councils would begin from April 13 and will continue until April 17.

The public relations officers of the commission, Sohail Ahmad, said in a news release that the nomination fee for a candidate contesting for the district and tehsil councils was Rs3,000, whereas Rs1,000 nomination fee was fixed for a candidate of village and neighbourhood council.

He said it was mandatory for a candidate, his proposer or seconder that they should be a voter in the respective village and neighbourhood council or tehsil or district council, which ever the case may be.

He said under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act 2013, polls for the village and neighbourhood councils would be held on non-party basis, whereas that of district and tehsil councils would be held on party basis.

Sohail said union councils in a district or tehsil had been declared as a ward wherein a single councilor would be elected.

He added that in those general wards a candidate could also contest in independent capacity.

He, however, said each of the registered political party had to submit till Apr 19 priority lists of their candidates for the seats reserved for women, non-Muslim, youth and peasant/ worker in the district and tehsil councils.

The PRO said under the law there were 5 to 10 general seats in village and neighbourhood councils and a candidate receiving highest number of votes would be elected as nazim whereas the runners-up would be naib nazim.

He added that in the village and neighbourhood council two seats were reserved for women, and one each for youth, minority and peasant and worker.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2015

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