ISLAMABAD, Nov 24: The Pakistan People’s Party on Saturday announced the names of its candidates from Sindh and the NWFP for the national and provincial assemblies.

It also announced the nominees for the reserved seats for women from Punjab for the national and Punjab assemblies. Candidates for the reserved seats for minorities in the national and three provincial assemblies were also announced.

The nominations were approved in a meeting presided over by PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto here.

Those nominated to contest the elections for the reserved seats of NA for women include Naheed Khan, Rukhsana Bangash, Shehnaz Wazir Ali, Palwasha Khan, Mrs Beelum Hasnain, Mehreen Anwer Bhutto, Farzana Raja, Justice Fakhrun Nisa, Fauzia Habib, Yasmin Rehman, Shakila Rasheed, Samina Mushtaq Pagganwala, Begum Nasim Chaudhry, Nargis Faiz Malik, Azra Khalid and Mrs Nighat. Some of them will also contest elections for the reserved seats in the Punjab Assembly.

Those who will contest for the reserved seats in the Punjab Assembly are: Farzana Raja, Justice Fakhrun Nisa, Fauzia Habib, Yasmin Rehman, Shakeela Rasheed, Samina Mushtaq Pagganwala, Begum Nasim Chaudhry, Nargis Faiz Malik, Asifa Farooqi, Azra Khalid, Mrs Qayoom Nizami, Sahibzadi Nargis Zaffar, Najmi Saleem, Talat Yaqub, Naila Sarwar, Sajida Mir, Mrs Nargis Awan, Mrs Syma Khar, Amna Buttar, Riffat Sultana Dar, Saghira Islam, Uzma Bokhari, Faiza Malik, Shazia Abid, Zeba Iram Zaib, Syed Irshad Begum, Syed Sarwat Fatima, Nasira Shaukat Mehmood, Rana Rizvi, Nazma Jawad Hashmi, Saima Bukhari, Azra Bano, Sabiha Begum, Samina Naveed, Samina Mushtaq Pagganwala, Neelam Awan, Mrs Irfan Ahmad, Farkhanda Malik, Khalida Shahid, Neelam Malik, Shaista Zaid, Nusrat Siraj, Sumera Khan, Sakina Chaudhry, Amna Zaidi, Gulshan Durrani, Amna Raheem and Shazia Sethi.

All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (Apma) chairman Shahbaz Bhatti, Ramesh Lal, Dr Lal Chand, Dr Mahesh Malani and Dr Khatumal Jeewan will contest for the reserved seats for minorities in the National Assembly.

Those who have been nominated to contest elections for reserved seats for minorities in the Punjab Assembly include Parvez Rafique, Tahir Naveed, Ms Aneeqa Maria Akhtar, Naveed Amir, Khalid Gill, Kalyan Singh, George Paul, Shamoon Alfred and Akmal Bhatti.

Prince Javed, Sardar Vijay Singh and Dia Ram have been nominated to contest elections for the NWFP assembly seats, while Jaffer George will contest for a reserved seat in the Balochistan assembly.

Benazir Bhutto was expected to file her nomination papers in Larkana in a day or two, said PPP sources.

Her name has been listed on top of the PPP candidates for the reserved seats for women in the National Assembly. Ms Bhutto would file her nomination papers for NA-204 (Larkana-I) and NA 207 (Larkana-IV).