How many parties are in the election race?

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced that a total of 166 political parties are enlisted for the upcoming general election on February 8.

The ECP published a list on January 15 on its website that details all political parties registered to contest the election. The list also includes information about the chairperson of each party and their primary address.

Read more: ECP appoints new secretary ahead of elections

The two prominent parties for the upcoming election are the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

The previous election winner, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), is mentioned in the list as well, although no chairman or president has been listed.

Sheikh Rashid has registered his own party, Awami Muslim League Pakistan, from Rawalpindi.

The Balochistan Awami Party, which emerged as the largest political party in Balochistan in the 2018 general election, is registered under the central presidency of Khalid Hussain Magsi.

Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan, under Saad Hussain Rizvi, has also enlisted to contest elections.

Read more: Elections 2024: PTI fields 75% new candidates

According to the list, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (JUI-F) will contest elections under the chairmanship of Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Similarly, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (S) has been registered with Maulana Hamid-Ul-Haq as its chairperson, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (Noorani) is led by its president Sahibzada Abul Khair Muhammad Zubair, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Nazryati Pakistan has Maulana Khalil Ahmed Mukhlis as its ameer, and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (Imam Noorani) has Peer Ijaz Hashmi as its president.

The list includes several parties with similar names. Besides Pakistan People’s Party with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as its chairman, there is Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians led by Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan People’s Party (Shaheed Bhutto) under Ghinwa Bhutto, and Pakistan People’s Party (Workers) with Dr Safdar Abbasi as its president.

PML-N faces even more confusing opponents such as Pakistan Muslim League with Chaudhry Shujaat as president, Pakistan Muslim League (F) under Pir Pagara’s presidency, Pakistan Muslim League (J), Pakistan Muslim League Council, Pakistan Muslim League Organization, Pakistan Muslim League (Zia-Ul-Haq Shaheed), and Pakistan Muslim League (Sher-e-Bangal).

Almost 40 parties have their postal address in Lahore, including Jammat-e-Islami Pakistan under the chairmanship of Siraj-ul-Haq.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Awami National Party and Pakistan Awami Inqelabi League registered themselves from Peshawar. From Swabi district, Pakistan Aman Tehreek and Pakistan Falahi Tehreek were listed.

Meanwhile, in Punjab, the All Pakistan Muslim League (Jinnah) registered from Dera Ghazi Khan, Awami Justice Party Pakistan and Move on Pakistan from Faisalabad, Pakistan Human Party from Pakpattan, Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (Ch. Anwar) from Multan, Pakistan Muhafiz Watan Party from Sheikhupura, and Pakistan Muslim League Organization is registered from Kasur.

In Balochistan, most parties were registered from Quetta, including the Balochistan Awami Party, Balochistan National Party, and Balochistan National Party (Awami). In Sindh, besides MQM-P, there is Mohajir Qaumi Movement Pakistan being led under the chairmanship of Afaq Ahmed.

Even though Pak Sarzameen Party announced reuniting with MQM-P in January 2023, it is still registered with the ECP as a separate party. Interestingly, there is no chairperson mentioned in the list the ECP published. Similarly, Jamaat-e-Suffah and Jadeed Awami Party are mentioned in the ECP list, but no chairperson has been mentioned.

The general election was supposed to be held in November 2023. However, it was delayed due to the ECP requiring more time to draw up new constituencies.