KARACHI: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has raised more than Rs647 million for the national kitty this time around through the non-refundable nomination fees, which were collected from the over 28,000 aspirants who filed nomination papers last month, officials from the commission said on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the ECP also confirmed the development, but refused to divulge details.

Like in past elections, thousands of aspirants filed their nomination papers this time around as well, along with a security deposit. However, in the past, these deposits used to be refundable un­­der certain conditions. In previous years, candidates who failed to secure less than one-fourth of the votes cast famously had to forfeit their deposits, known in the local vernacular as zamanat zabt hona.

However, following an amendment to the Election Act, 2017 last year, those who file nomination papers are now bound to pay a non-refundable deposit of Rs30,000 with each form submitted for the National Assembly, and Rs20,000 for each provincial assembly form.

“This is the first time that the nomination papers were received with a certain non-refundable amount,” an ECP official told Dawn.

“The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2023 passed last year by parliament says that the candidates will deposit a sum of money with their application in the national treasury, and it will not be refundable. It also says that the candidates will maintain a register of receipts and payments and all financial records and details to support every payment made in respect of election expenses.”

Zamanat zabt hona (forfeiture of nomination fee) becomes a thing of the past following recent changes to election laws

With the new law in place, the ECP received a total of Rs242.46 million from 8,082 people who filed their nomination papers for the National Assembly. Among these 8,082 nominations, the official said, 7,474 papers were filed for the general seats of the National Assembly and 608 on reserved seats.

“Similarly, a total 20,232 nomination papers were filed for the seats of provincial assemblies of all four provinces,” said the official. “This generated around Rs404.64 million for the exchequer.

Among total no­­minations received for four provincial as­­semblies, 18,477 were filed for general seats and 1,755 for the reserved ones. this sum of around Rs647.100 million would go to the national kitty,“ the official told Dawn.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2024