According to the 1973 constitution and the Election Act of 2017, political parties are assigned reserved seats for women and non-Muslims based on priority lists submitted to the Elections Commission of Pakistan (ECP) prior to the general elections and in accordance with the election timetable.
These seats are apportioned proportionally to the number of general seats each party wins in a direct election to the National Assembly and provincial assemblies. Although party leaders are legally permitted to nominate anybody for these seats, this discretion has mostly been used to grant quotas to friends and family, with real workers being disregarded or assigned serial numbers that are unlikely to be elected to parliament.
