Upcoming election: Fafen reports rejection of nomination papers in 195 out of 256 constituencies

The scrutiny process of the nomination papers of candidates contesting the upcoming general election was completed from April 01 to 07, 2013. The Free and Fair Election Network's (FAFEN's) Constituency Long-Term Observers (CLTOs) have observed rejection of candidates' nomination papers in 195 out of 256 reporting constituencies, says a press release issued by FAFEN on Saturday.
Punjab had the highest number of such constituencies (105), followed by Sindh (49), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (24), FATA (9), Balochistan (six) and two constituencies in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). No data on rejections was available from 72 constituencies - 38 in Punjab, 12 in Sindh, 11 in KP, 8 in Balochistan, two in FATA and one in Frontier Region (FR). The data regarding the rejection of candidates' nomination papers was directly observed by the CLTOs, while the data on challenges against candidates was compiled after obtaining copies of objections filed with the RO offices.
According to FAFEN observers, there were 45 constituencies where no nomination papers were rejected. On the other hand, a total of 474 nominations were rejected in the remaining 150 reporting constituencies. Most of the rejections 201 were reported in Punjab, followed by 144 in Sindh, 56 in KP, 44 in FATA, 19 in ICT and 10 in Balochistan.
Most of the candidates (82) were rejected due to incomplete documentation. Sindh had the highest number (36) of such rejections, followed by Punjab (24), KP (9), FATA (7), ICT (5) and one in Balochistan.
In addition, 64 nomination papers were rejected on the basis of candidates being defaulters of various government departments. 28 rejections were reported in Punjab, 18 in Sindh, 14 in FATA and 4 in KP. However, no candidate was disqualified for being a defaulter in Balochistan and ICT.
Fifty-one nominations were rejected due to issues of taxes and assets declaration. Most of the cases (41) were reported from Punjab, followed by Sindh (6), FATA (2) and KP and ICT (one each). No case was reported from Balochistan. A total of 17 candidates were rejected on the basis of Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution. KP had the highest number (14) of such rejections, followed by 2 in FATA and one in Punjab. None of the candidates in Sindh, ICT and Balochistan were rejected on this ground. Furthermore, 14 nominees were rejected as they were convicted in criminal cases. Six of them had filed their papers in Punjab, three each in Sindh and KP and two in Balochistan. FATA and ICT had no such rejections.