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Over 4000 candidates sign in for
Pakistan polls

Pakistan's election commission on Tuesday began scrutinising nominations for the October 10 general election and said a record number of 4020 hopefuls, including 379 women, have signed in to become federal lawmakers in the 332-member national assembly.

Another 9648 candidates have filed their nominations to contest the 728 seats in the four provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh, North-West Frontier Province and Baluchistan, elections for which will be held on the same day, the commission said.

The last date for filing nominations was August 26.

About 4667 candidates have filed nomination papers for the 371-member Punjab assembly, 2706 for the 168-member Sindh assembly, 1291 for the 124 seats in NWFP and 984 for the 65-member Baluchistan assembly.

The election to the senate will be held on October 12.

The main contest in the October 10 elections is expected to be between the pro-government Grand National Alliance, the Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians, floated as an offshoot of former premier Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, and deposed premier Nawaz Sharief's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

Other strong contenders include former cricketer Imran Khan's Tehrik-e-Insaf and the Awami National Party in NWFP.

The PPPP and PML-N have reached an understanding on seat adjustments in several constituencies.

The PML-N has also reached a separate understanding for seat adjustment with the MMA.

All eyes during the next few days will be on the election commission and judiciary to see what their ruling will be on the nominations of the former prime ministers, as they stand excluded under the new electoral rules brought in by the Musharraf regime.

The decision on the papers of Sharief's wife Kulsoom and brother Shahbaz, who has been appointed the chief of PML-N, is also likely to watched with interest. The government has already said that they will not be permitted to return according to the agreement under which the Shariefs were exiled to Jeddah in December 2000.

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