According to the 1973 Constitution and Election Act 2017, political parties are allotted reserved seats for women and non-Muslims based on the priority lists they submit to the Elections Commission of Pakistan (ECP) before the date of general elections and as per the election schedule. These seats are distributed in proportion to the number of general seats each party wins in a direct contest for the national assembly and the provincial assembly. Although heads of political liberty are allowed by law to nominate anyone for these seats, this discretion has primarily been abused to give quotas to friends and family in the form of “friends and family packages,” meaning that legitimate workers are either overlooked or assigned serial numbers that are unlikely to be elected to parliament.

According to Articles 51 and 106 of the Constitution respectively, in the national assembly, there are currently 60 seats set out for women and 10 for non-Muslims. There are also 14 seats set aside for women and non-Muslims in the Baluchistan parliament, 30 in the KPK assembly, 74 in the Punjab assembly, and 38 in the Sindh assembly. The independent returned candidate or candidates can lawfully join such political party within three days of the names of the returned candidates being published in the official Gazette, and they will be included in the total number of general seats won by a political party.

According to Articles 51 and 106 of the Constitution respectively, in the national assembly, there are currently 60 seats set out for women and 10 for non-Muslims. There are also 14 seats set aside for women and non-Muslims in the Baluchistan parliament, 30 in the KPK assembly, 74 in the Punjab assembly, and 38 in the Sindh assembly. In accordance with the Election Act of 2017 Section 104 (1) In order to contest for seats in an Assembly designated for women and non-Muslims, political parties must submit separate lists of their candidates in priority order for the designated seats to the Commission, the Provincial Election Commissioner, or another Commission-authorized officer within the time frame the Commission sets for nomination paper submissions. The Commission will then promptly publish these lists for public consumption.

The parties lists mentioned in sub-section (1) can include as many names of additional candidates as a political party deems........

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