PESHAWAR – The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) Constituency Long-Term Observers (CLTOs) observed 216 National Assembly constituencies during the March and found out that women constituted only 3.94 per cent of the 4,108 candidates who had submitted nomination papers for the upcoming General Election 2013.
According to a FAFEN press release more than half of the candidates submitting nomination forms did not submit their National Tax Numbers (NTN) (2,161 or 52.6 per cent of the total), indicating that they may not be registered as taxpayers.
About 30 per cent of the candidates (1,236) either have no formal education (7.3 per cent) or have received less education than a Bachelors or equivalent degree.
One-fifth of applicants (22.6 per cent) have failed to mention their educational qualifications. Combined, the two categories form over half of the total applicants.
Approximately 30 per cent of the candidates (1,226) have failed to list any profession or occupation in their nomination forms.
The highest number of applicants are either working in the agriculture sector (786, or 19.1 per cent), have their own businesses (777, or 18.9 per cent), or are lawyers (307, or 7.5 per cent) or landlords (276, or 6.7 per cent).
More than half of the 4,108 candidate aspirants are affiliated with one of 28 political parties. Almost half of the applicants (1,865, or 45 per cent) are independent candidates.
A total of 3,946 male candidate applicants and 162 female candidate applicants submitted nomination papers with Returning Officers from March 24 to 31. In total 2,321 candidates filed nomination papers in Punjab, 585 in Sindh, 561 in KPK, 254 in Balochistan, 229 in Fata and 158 in ICT.
Women constitute less than 4 per cent of the 4,108 candidate applicants in the 216 reporting constituencies.
The highest number of male candidates who filed nomination papers in Punjab (2,212), followed by Sindh (554), KP (546), Balochistan (252), Fata (229) and ICT (153).
Similarly, 109 out of 162 female candidates were in Punjab, 31 in Sindh, 15 in KP, 5 in ICT and two in Balochistan.
The FAFEN observers reported from 216 constituencies a majority of candidate applicants (2,161 or 52.6 per cent) did not provide a National Tax Number (NTN) with their application.
A total of 1,228 NTNs provided by candidate applicants (29.9 per cent) were verified by Returning Officers.
However, 719 candidate applicants (17.5 per cent) provided NTNs that had not been verified by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
Just four (0.1 per cent) of the aspirants hold a Ph.D degree and six (0.1 per cent) an M.Phil. Almost 10 per cent of candidates (404) have a Master’s degree, while just over one-third of the candidates (1,466) have a Bachelor’s degree.
Educational credentials for the remaining candidates, constituting more than half, were either missing (930, or 22.6 per cent) or intermediate or lower, including 299 aspirants (7.3 per cent) who have had no formal education.
A total of 320 candidate applicants (7.8 per cent) have an intermediate (FA/FSC) certificate; 399 (9.7 per cent) have a matriculation certificate; 62 candidates (1.5 per cent) hold certificates from religious educational institutions; 42 (1 per cent) have less than matriculation; 56 (1.4 per cent) graduated from primary school; and one has less than a primary education.
Another 14 candidates (0.3 per cent) hold various diplomas and 19 hold other educational certificates.
The highest number of applicants are either working in the agriculture sector (786, or 19.1 per cent), have their own businesses (777, or 18.9 per cent), or are lawyers (307, or 7.5 per cent) or landlords (276, or 6.7 per cent).
Another 131 applicants are employed in unspecified professions; 78 are politicians; 71 are doctors; 48 are imam/alam; 47 are social workers; 41 are housewives; 30 are property dealers; 29 are listed as retired; 28 are laborers; 23 are unemployed; 22 are journalists; and 14 are students. More than half of the 4,108 candidate aspirants are affiliated with a political party.
The FAFEN CLTOs identified 28 different parties that are fielding at least one candidate.
Source: The Nation
