The Election Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024, introduced by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Bilal Azhar Kiyani in the National Assembly, would prohibit candidates running as independents from later amending their affidavit to reflect their affiliation with a political party.
Proposed modifications pertain to Sections 66 and 104 of the Election Act of 2017.
The bill, a copy of which is available with Geo News, stated that “Provided further that an independent candidate shall no, be considered as the candidate of any political party if at later stage he files a statement duly signed and notarised stating that he contested the general elections as a candidate of the political party specified therein.”
The bill also suggested that political parties would lose their eligibility for reserved seats if they did not provide the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) with a list of the reserved seats by the deadline.
The bill further stated that any political party would not be eligible for the quota in the reserved seats at a later stage if it failed to submit its list for reserved seats within the previously specified time period.
Furthermore, it suggested that any candidate who does not file a declaration of connection with a political party prior to requesting the assignment of an election symbol be regarded as an independent candidate.
