MMA fields 13 female candidates on direct NA seats

ISLAMABAD: The religious parties under the umbrella of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has fielded 13 woman candidates on general seats of National Assembly and 20 constituencies of four provincial assemblies.

As per requirement as given in the Election Act, 2017, every party is needed to give 5% of its total candidates to women. As many as 191 MMA candidates including 178 male and 13 female candidates will contest on National Assembly seats.

The MMA candidate might have very little chances of victory but the alliance has been able to find female candidates to fulfill requirement of the Election Act. Most of the candidates belong to Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and JUI-F.

The MMA candidate Parveen Akhtar will take Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) from NA-72 Sialkot. Other prominent candidates from this constituency include Chaudhry Armaghan Subhani of PML-N and Syed Ishtiaqul Hasan Gillani from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

Another MMA candidate Fahmida Kausar will face ex PML-N cabinet member Saira Afzal Tarar from NA-87 Hafizabad. Chaudhry Shaukat Ali Bhatti of PTI and PPP’s Allah Rakhi are other worth-mentioning candidate from this seat.

From NA-92 Sargodha, Shahnaz Bibi has been pitted against Syed Javed Hussain of PML-N, Sahibzada Naeemuddin Sialvi (PTI) and Muhammad Jamshed (PPP).

From NA-101 Faisalabad, Afifa Siddiqui of MMA will contest against Zafar Zulqarnain of PTI and PPP candidate Tariq Mehmood.

From NA-115 Jhang, Lubaina Siddiqa of MMA will face independent candidates Syed Sughra Imam who is daughter of veteran politicians Syed Fakhar Imam and Begum Abida Hussain. Muhammad Ameer Sultan of PTI and Saleem Tahir of PPP are also in the run from this seat.

Aneela Batool will contest on MMA ticket from NA-134 Lahore against Malik Zaheer Abbas (PTI) and Rana Mubasshar Iqbal (PML-N). Ex-Punjab Assembly member and dissident PML-N leader Syed Zaeem Hussain Qadri is also in the field as an independent candidate.

The National Assembly constituency from Multan NA-154 will see Irum Gul of MMA against Syed Abdul Qadar Gillani (son of Yusuf Raza Gillani) of PPP, Ahmad Hussain (PTI) and Muhammad Suleman Qureshi (PML-N). Sikandar Hayat Bosan who was deprived of PTI ticket will compete as an independent candidate.

From NA-169 Bahawalnagar, Ishrat Manzoor will contest against Muhammad Ijazul Haq of PML-Z and Noorul Hasan Tanvir of PPP.

From NA-220 Umarkot, Ishrat Naz has been pitted against some stalwarts like Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi (PTI), Nawab Muhammad Yousuf Talpur (PPP) and Arbab Ghulam Rahim as an independent candidate.

From NA -223 Matiaria, two female candidates Farhat Hayat of MMA and Nargis Naz of PML-N are in the field against Ramesh Kumar of PTI and Makhdoom Jamiluz Zaman from PPP.

The National Assembly constituency NA-228 of Tando Muhammad Khan (Sindh) will see Samia Abdul Qadar against Syed Naveed Qamar of PPP and Abdul Jabbar Memon from PTI.

The MMA has fielded female candidates from two National Assembly seats of Dadu district of Sindh. Hameeda Khatoon NA-234 and Ms. Fatima NA-235. Hameeda Khatoon will face Liaquat Ali Jatoi of PTI and Irfan Ali Leghari from PPP while Ms Fatima is contesting against Rafique Ahmad Jamali (PPP), Ahmad Khan Lund (PML-N) and Karim Ali Jatoi (PTI).

The MMA, however, could not find any female candidate for the National Assembly from Balochistan province.

The alliance of religious parties has also nominated seven female candidates each from Punjab and Sindh provincial assemblies and three each from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.