Five transgender candidates will take part in the July 25 vote.

Although, at the onset of the election campaign, 13 transgender candidates filed their nomination papers for the contestable constituencies in both the national and provincial assemblies. But nine were forced to drop out, due to lack of funds. Unlike women and religious minorities, transgenders do not have any reserved seats in the parliament or the provincial houses.

Former lawmaker, Ayesha Gulalai Wazir, who formed her own faction of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf political party, has fielded two of the four transgender candidates. The other three are running as independents.

Interestingly, according to data provided by the ECP to Geo.tv, only 1,913 transgender citizens are registered in Pakistan to vote. Even though, a recent population census puts their headcount at over 10,000.

Profiles

Nayab Ali - PTI-G

A PTI-G candidate. Contesting from NA-142 (Okara). Prominent candidates in the constituency are, PTI’s Rao Hassan Sikander and PML-N’s Riyaz ul Haq. 

Ali is a teacher by profession and holds a BS degree in Botany from Punjab University.

Lubna Lal - PTI-G

A PTI-G candidate. Contesting from PP-26 (Jehlum). Prominent candidates in the constituency are, PTI's Zafar Iqbal and PPP's Kashif Islam.

Nadeem Kashish – Independent 

Contesting from NA-53 (Islamabad). Prominent candidates in the constituency are, PML-N’s Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, PTI-G’s Ayesha Gulalai Wazir and PTI’s Imran Khan. Kashish is a makeup artist by profession.

Zahid Khan aka Resham - Independent 

Contesting from NA- 69 (Gujrat). Prominent candidates in the constituency are, PML-Q’s Pervez Elahi and PML-N’s Ch. Mubasher Hussain.

Alamgir aka Maria - Independent 

Contesting from PK-31 (Mansehra). A prominent candidate in the constituency is PTI's Babar Saleem Swati.