LAHORE: All major political parties on Monday submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) their lists of priority candidates for reserved seats for women from Punjab.

And if figures are anything to measure the level of confidence of the parties about their respective success in the July 25 vote, the PML-N has submitted the maximum names, 27, for 35 reserved seats allocated to Punjab in the National Assembly. The PTI comes second with nominating 18 hopefuls and PPP third with 13 nominees.

The PML-N seems satisfied with the performance of former federal information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, as she, along with her mother Tahira Aurangzeb, both figure in the list with the latter at the top and Marriyum on the 4th position. Likewise, former MNA Zeb Jafar and her mother Begum Ishrat Ashraf, who is also a former parliamentarian of 1990s, are included in the list.

And if elected, it will perhaps be the first time that two mother-daughter pairs will become MNAs from reserved seats.

Former Punjab finance minister Ayesha Ghaus Pasha and former MNAs Shaista Pervaiz Malik, Kiran Dar, Maiza Hameed, Shehzadi Tiwana and Rida Khan are once again hoping to represent the party in the lower house of parliament.

Shireen Mazari tops the 18-member list of the PTI, while Andleeb Abbas, women’s wing president and former MNA Munaza Hasan, former MPA Nosheen Hamid, Fozia Bahram, and Rubina Jamil are other prominent names.

Of the 13 nominees of the PPP, former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar is at the top of the list. Palwasha Muhammad Khan Zai, former MNAs Mehreen Anwer Raja and Beelum Hasnain, Natasha Daultana and Neelam Jabbar are other known names nominated by the PPP.

The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and PML-Q have submitted lists of five nominees each. Samina Khawar Hayat, who had made headlines after supporting men’s right to polygamy in the Punjab Assembly some years ago, and former MPA Zahida Sarfaraz are prominent in the PML-Q list.

The Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek (which is likely to replace Milli Muslim League if the election commission does not register the latter) has submitted two nominees.

For Punjab Assembly’s 66 reserved seats for women, the PML-N has presented 54 nominees, the PTI 67, PPP 15, PML-Q 20, MMA 10, Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek three and left-leaning Awami Worker Party one (Shazia Khan).

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2018