For the upcoming elections scheduled for January 8, 2008, 2,081 nominations papers for 197 National Assembly seats from the Punjab and 4,516 for the 297 provincial assembly seats have been accepted. For the 494 provincial and National Assembly seats, 45.125348 million voters have been registered. On these seats 24.8 million males and 20.2 million females are expected to exercise their right to vote.

According to the Punjab Election Commission in the 35 districts of the province 151 returning officers and 299 assistant returning officers will be appointed. Besides, 38,946 polling stations and 103,556 polling booths will be established.

The election commission will also send 246,058 ballot boxes a day prior to the polls to all the districts.

For seven National Assembly and 14 provincial assembly seats from Rawalpindi 2,493,058 voters have been registered. Similarly seven returning officers and 14 assistant returning officers have been appointed. In Rawalpindi district, 2,048 polling stations have been established.

There are 855,941 registered voters in Attock district. For the three National and five provincial seats from the district, 809 polling stations will be set up, while three returning officers and five assistant returning officers have been appointed. 

For the two National and four provincial assembly seats from Jhelum, 568 polling stations have been set up. Two returning officers and four district returning officers will manage the election process. There are 749,048 registered voters in the district.

For the five National Assembly and eleven provincial assembly seats in Sargodha 1,940,069 registered voters will exercise their right to vote. For the 1,589 polling stations in the district, five returning officers and 11 assistant returning officers in addition to support staff will be appointed.

For the two National Assembly and four provincial assembly seats from Khushab two returning officers and four assistant returning officers will be appointed.

For the eleven National Assembly and 22 provincial assembly seats from Faisalabad 2,948 polling stations and 8,783 polling booths will be established. Whereas 11 returning officers and 22 assistant returning officers will perform their duties.

In Gujranwala elections will be held on seven National Assembly and 14 provincial assembly seats. Seven returning officers and 14 assistant returning officers will be appointed. As many as 2,432,019 voters will cast their votes at 1,768 polling stations. Similarly, 4,937 polling booths will be established in the district.

For the four National Assembly and eight provincial assembly seats from Gujrat, 1,013 polling stations and 3,384 polling booths will be established. There are 1,289,196 registered voters in the district.

To oversee the whole process of election four returning officers and eight assistant returning officers will be appointed.

On the five National Assembly and eleven provincial assembly seats, 1,427 polling stations and 4,045 polling booths will be established. The total number of registered voters in the district is 1,484,123.

The three National Assembly and five provincial assembly seats from Narowal will be decided by 642,634 registered voters. In this district 621 polling stations and 1,816 polling booths will be established.

For the 13 National Assembly and 25 provincial assembly seats from Lahore, 3,245 polling stations and 8,716 polling booths will be established. There are 3,674,120 registered voters in the area.
In Sheikhupura for the four National Assembly and nine provincial assembly seats, 935 polling stations and 2,364 polling booths will be established. There are a total of 908,076 registered voters in the district.

For the three National Assembly and four provincial assembly seats from Nankana Sahib 645,730 registered voters will go to polls. For the purpose 671 polling stations and 1,618 polling booths will be established.

There is a record number of relatives and kins of district nazims that will be contesting the coming elections. Majority of such contestants belong to Pakistan Muslim League (PML). Most of the district nazims who were elected to the office on election conducted on non-party basis have their sympathies with the PML.

Out of the 35 districts in Punjab just Muzaffargarh District Nazim Abdul Qayyum Jatoi belongs to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). But he resigned from his post to contest the elections for the National Assembly.

District nazims belonging to parties other than the PML were either forced to quit or were bribed to join the ruling party. At present majority of the district nazims, naib nazims, town nazims and union council nazims in the province have their sympathies with the Pakistan Muslim League.
In sheer violation of the directives of the election commission the government resources are used by these nazims to run the election campaigns of the PML candidates.

This is the reason that with the start of the election campaign various opposition political parties have started demanding suspension of the local bodies and non-interference of district nazims in the election process.

In the Charter of Demands agreed upon by the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) consensus has been reached on the point that the local bodies should be suspended.

In various districts of Punjab different candidates have also lodges their complaints with the election commission over the matter.

The accusation leveled by the opposition parties regarding interference by the district nazims seemingly holds some substance. The fact of the matter is that many of the close relatives of these nazims are contesting the coming general elections for national as well as the provincial assembly.
Waseem Gulzar, son-in-law of Attock District Nazim Maj (retired) Tahir Sadiq, is contesting elections from NA-49, whereas his daughter Aiman Waseem is contesting from NA-57 as an independent candidate. Aiman Waseem was elected to the National Assembly in 2002 from NA-49. Former prime minister Shaukat Aziz got elected to the National Assembly from the same constituency during the by-elections after the seat was vacated by Ms Waseem.

Similarly, Chakwal District Nazim Sardar Ghulam Abbas’s brother Sardar Nawab Khan is contesting for the National Assembly seat.

Likewise, Jhelum District Nazim Chaudhry Farukkh Altaf’s uncle Chaudhry Shahbaz Khan is contesting on two National Assembly seats on PML ticket. Similarly, a relative of Khushab District Nazim Ghulam Mohammad Tiwana, Sultan Mohammad Tiwana is contesting for the National Assembly seat.
In Sargodha, District Nazim Inamul Haq Paracha’s nephew Haroon Paracha is Pakistan Muslim League (PML) candidate for the National Assembly seat.

Similarly, in Faisalabad the district nazim’s close relatives are contesting the elections. Likewise, Jhang District Nazim Sahibzada Hameed Sultan’s son Mehboob Sultan is contesting elections from NA-91. In Mianwali, District Nazim Obaidullah Shadikhel’s close relative, Amanatullah Khan Shadekhel, is contesting from NA-71.

Similarly, in Hafizabad, District Nazim Mubashir Abbas Bhatti’s relatives Mehdi Hassan Bhatti and Liaquat Bhatti are contesting elections from two different constituencies of Hafizabad for the National Assembly.

In Gujranwala, Fayyaz Chattha is the district nazim and his father Hamid Nasir Chattha is a candidate for the National Assembly. In Khanewal, District Nazim Ahmed Yar Heraj’s two family members, Raza Heraj and Hamid Yar Heraj, are contesting for two National Assembly seats.