ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan will hold parliamentary elections Monday, with political parties competing for 272 seats in the National Assembly. Election posters jostle for space on a street in Rawalpindi ahead of Pakistan's elections on Monday. The elections were due to take place in December of last year but were postponed after the assassination of Pakistan People's Party chairman, Benazir Bhutto. In 2008, 49 political parties applied for poll symbols with the Election Commission. Outlined below are the main contenders: PPP The assassination of leader Benazir Bhutto looms large over the PPP, which had been banking on the charismatic leader to rally supporters to its cause and shake off the charges of corruption that have dogged the party since Bhutto fled prosecution after two terms as prime minister.
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Pakistan will hold parliamentary elections Monday
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Political parties competing for 272 seats in the National Assembly
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49 political parties have applied for poll symbols with the Election Commission
Founded on promises of "egalitarian democracy," the @placeholder flirted with socialist principles in its early days, gaining a mass popularity that continues to ensure it is among Pakistan's largest political parties.