LAHORE: The Jamaat-i-Islami has issued party tickets to 243 candidates for a total of 266 National Assembly seats.

At a press conference held at Mansoora on Friday, JI naib emir Liaqat Baloch said the Jamaat had fielded 531 candidates for the elections on a total of 593 provincial assembly seats. He said nine women were contesting for NA and 22 for provincial assembly seats.

He said the JI had fielded 45 contestants for NA seats in KP, 13 for 16 seats in Balochistan, 33 for 39 seats in interior Sindh, and 22 for as many seats in Karachi while 128 candidates were contesting from Punjab for NA seats.

Baloch said 62 per cent of the tickets were issued to the youth. He said 88pc of the contestants hold graduate degrees, including engineers, doctors and PhD scholars. He emphasised the need for free and fair elections with equal opportunities for all political parties.

The JI leader urged the ECP to enforce the election code of conduct to avoid controversies like those observed in the 2013 and 2018 elections.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2024