ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has finalised majority of its candidates for the forthcoming General Election 2018, sources informed late Wednesday.
The names of party candidates will formally be announced in the next 48 hours, the sources said.
They said that Engineer Qamarul Islam and Sardar Mumtaz are likely to get the party tickets in place of Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, a longtime affiliate of Nawaz Sharif who recently announced to contest the polls as an independent candidate.
The party has decided to award ticket to Tariq Fazal Chaudhry from Islamabad, according to sources, while two other PML-N candidates from the federal capital are likely to be finalised by Thursday evening.
Veteran politician Javed Hashmi will contest the election from Multan, while PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif will contest the polls from Karachi, Lahore and Swat, the sources informed.
A decision has also been made to award ticket to Maryam Nawaz from Lahore, whereas former Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah will also be running for the National Assembly, according to sources.
It has been learnt that Khawaja Asif, Abid Sher Ali and Khurram Dastgir are also among the ones who have been awarded party tickets, besides Ahsan Iqbal and Javed Lateef.
Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is likely to contest the election from Islamabad and Murree.
The sources further said that Hamza Shehbaz, Ayaz Sadiq, Pervez Malik, Saad Rafique and Rohail Asghar have also been awarded party tickets.
Saira Afzal Tarar, Sheikh Fayyaz and Junaid Anwar have also been finalised as the party's candidates for the forthcoming polls.
Asadur Rehman Ramday, Arshad Leghari, Pir Imran Shah, Chaudhry Ashraf and Tufail Jutt also received tickets to contest the elections, sources added.
PML-N members Usman Ibrahim, Hanif Abbasi, Malik Abrar and Chaudhry Danial also succeeded in winning the party's nod.
The sources further said that Ameer Muqam, Mushahidullah Khan, Dr Afnan and Sheikh Aftab also received the tickets for contesting the polls.
They said that from Abbottabad either Sardar Mehtab or Murtaza Javed Abbasi will contest the polls, however, the decision to award the ticket is yet to be made.
The Election Commission of Pakistan has scheduled General Election 2018 for July 25.
Candidates from all political parties have already submitted their nomination papers for the forthcoming polls, after which the process of verification of nomination forms is underway.
The outgoing PML-N government had completed its five-year constitutional term on May 31, after which the interim government had taken over the reins of the country.
This was the first time in Pakistan’s history that a second consecutive democratic government had completed its tenure.
APP