The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Tuesday issued guidelines for candidates to submit nomination papers.

The ECP said that nomination papers can be submitted from December 20 to 22.

The fee for obtaining the nomination papers is fixed at Rs.100.

A candidate can submit a maximum of five nomination papers with different endorsers.

The fee for the candidate of the National Assembly seat is Rs30,000 (non-refundable) while the fee for the candidate of the Provincial Assembly seat is Rs20,000 (non-refundable).

The candidate shall attach the income tax return documents of the last three years with the nomination papers.

The basic qualification for the candidate is to be a citizen of Pakistan and not less than 25 years of age.

As per ECP, contestants for National Assembly seats must be voters of any place in Pakistan.

For the seat of the provincial assembly, the candidate must be a voter of the respective province and he or she shall attach an attested copy of the identity card and vote certificate of the candidate recommender and endorser along with the nomination papers.

A complete copy of the passport on behalf of the candidate will be attached with the nomination papers while the nomination fee shall be deposited by the candidate directly to the Returning Officer (RO) or through Bank Draft.

The candidate for the seats reserved for women in the National Assembly must be a voter of the respective province.

A candidate shall be disqualified if Articles 62 and 63 are not complied with while the proposer of the candidate for general seats must be a voter of the concerned constituency.

Proposers and seconders of the women and non-Muslim seats in the National and Provincial Assembly must be voters of the respective province while nominators and supporters of candidates for non-Muslim seats in the Assembly can be voters from any part of Pakistan.