ISLAMABAD, July 22: In all 138,287 nomination papers have been filed throughout the country by intending candidates for different categorise of seats in the first phase of the local government elections. There are 1,654 union councils in Punjab, 589 in Sindh, 556 in the NWFP, and 275 in Balochistan. A total of 62,208 seats have been reserved for Muslims. According to a breakdown, the number of Muslim candidates (general) in Punjab is 36,510, in Sindh 11,090, in the NWFP 10,562 and in Balochistan it is 4,046.

There will be 16,626 seats for Muslim women in the country – 8,988 in Punjab, 3,426 in Sindh, 2,660 in the NWFP and 1,552 in Balochistan.

Likewise, 30,423 seats have been reserved for peasant workers — 16,935 in Punjab, 5,674 in Sindh, 5,600 in the NWFP and 2,214 in Balochistan.

Women peasant workers will have 12,601 seats – 6,693 in Punjab, 2,685 in Sindh, 1,984 in the NWFP, and 1,239 in Balochistan.

The election commission has reserved 4,942 seats for minority communities – 2,489 in Punjab, 1,857 in Sindh, 269 in the NWFP, and 327 in Balochistan.

The country will have 11,487 nazims and naib nazims. The number of nazim and naib nazim seats in Punjab is 5,727, in Sindh 2,556, in the NWFP 2,305, and in Balochistan it is 900.

Acting Chief Election Commissioner Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar presided over a meeting on Thursday that discussed implementation of the code of conduct for the LG elections.

The meeting noted that with filing of nomination papers the election tempo had started gaining momentum and it had become imperative for the government machinery to ensure the implementation of the code of conduct in letter and in spirit.

The CEC said that the conduct of elections in a just, free, fair and transparent manner mainly depended upon the performance of district returning officers, returning officers and assistant returning officers.

He said the election commission could achieve the target of fair elections if the code of conduct was implemented in its true essence.

Earlier, election commission secretary Kanwar Dilshad briefed the meeting about arrangements made for conducting the first-phase elections in 54 districts of the country in a transparent manner, particularly the application of the code of conduct and the law and order situation in Karachi.

He said a large number of observers form the Commonwealth, European Union, US and Saarc countries would be visiting Pakistan to observe the polls.