ISLAMABAD  -  A total of 12 women having affiliations with four different political parties have been elected directly as mem­bers of the National Assembly (MNAs) after defeating strong male candidates in their respective constituencies in general elections across the country.

“Among them, five women have contested polls as independents backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), four belongs to Pakistan Mus­lim League-Nawaz (PML-N), two from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and only one candidate contested election from Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM),” said an Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) data available with APP. It said that out of the total, four women including Chief Orga­nizer PML-N Maryam Nawaz, Aneeqa Mehdi Bhatti, Ayesha Nazir Jatt and Amber Majeed Niazi would sit in the National Assembly for the first time.

PTI backed candidate Shandana Gulzar from Peshawar, Aneeqa Mehdi Bhatti from Hafizabad, Ayesha Nazir Jatt from Vehari, Amber Majeed Niazi from Layyah and Zartaj Gul from Dera Ghazi Khan have won after a tough competition. The women belonging to PML-N have reached the house by defeating the opposition candidates, Nosheen Iftikhar from Sialkot, Mary­am Nawaz from Lahore, Shezra Man­sab from Nankana Sahib and Tehmina Doulatana from Vehari. In Sindh, three women have won after the contest, in which Shazia Marri and Dr Nafeesa Shah from PPP have won from Sang­har and Khairpur, while Aasia Ishaque of MQM has won from Karachi.