Elections in Pakistan
Encyclopedia
At the national level, Pakistan
elects a bicameral legislature
, the Parliament of Pakistan, which consists of a directly elected National Assembly of Pakistan
and a Senate
, whose members are chosen by elected provincial legislators. The Prime Minister of Pakistan
is elected by the National Assembly. The President
is elected by the Electoral college
, which consists of both houses of Parliament together with the provincial assemblies. In addition to the national parliament and the provincial assemblies, Pakistan also has more than five thousand elected local governments.
The country offers a multi-party system
, with numerous parties. Frequently, no single party holds a majority, and therefore parties must form alliances during or after elections, with coalition governments forming out of negotiations between parties.
in response to the election results.
provincial elections were described as "a farce, a mockery and a fraud upon the electorate"
The first direct elections held in the country after independence were for the provincial Assembly of the Punjab
between 10-20 March 1951. The elections were held for 197 seats. As many as 939 candidates contested the election for 189 seats, while the remaining seats were filled unopposed. Seven political parties were in the race. The election was held on an adult franchise
basis with approximately one-million voters. The turnout remained low. In Lahore
, the turnout was 30 per cent of the listed voters and in rural areas of Punjab it was much lower.
On 8 December 1951 the North West Frontier Province held elections for Provincial legislature seats. In a pattern that would be repeated throughout Pakistan's electoral history, many of those who lost accused the winners of cheating and rigging the elections. Similarly, in May, 1953 elections to the Provincial legislature of Sindh
were held and they were also marred by accusations of rigging. In April 1954, elections were held for the East Pakistan Legislative Assembly, in which the Pakistan Muslim League
lost, and Bengali
nationalists won.
N.B: All elections were contested under a separate electorate system, the 1990 elections had allegations of vote-rigging confirmed by foreign
observers. The 'MQM' contested the 1988 elections under the name Haq Parast group, it boycotted the 1993 National elections
.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
elects a bicameral legislature
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
, the Parliament of Pakistan, which consists of a directly elected National Assembly of Pakistan
National Assembly of Pakistan
The National Assembly of Pakistan is the lower house of the bicameral Majlis-e-Shura, which also compromises the President of Pakistan and Senate . The National Assembly and the Senate both convene at Parliament House in Islamabad...
and a Senate
Senate of Pakistan
The Senate of Pakistan is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan. Elections are held every three years for one half of the senate and each senator has a term of six years...
, whose members are chosen by elected provincial legislators. The Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister of Pakistan
The Prime Minister of Pakistan , is the Head of Government of Pakistan who is designated to exercise as the country's Chief Executive. By the Constitution of Pakistan, Pakistan has the parliamentary democratic system of government...
is elected by the National Assembly. The President
President of Pakistan
The President of Pakistan is the head of state, as well as figurehead, of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Recently passed an XVIII Amendment , Pakistan has a parliamentary democratic system of government. According to the Constitution, the President is chosen by the Electoral College to serve a...
is elected by the Electoral college
Electoral College of Pakistan
The President of Pakistan is chosen by an electoral college, in Pakistan. According to article 41 of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan, this electoral college consists of the Senate, the National Assembly of Pakistan, and the Members of the Provincial Assemblies. Members of the National Assembly...
, which consists of both houses of Parliament together with the provincial assemblies. In addition to the national parliament and the provincial assemblies, Pakistan also has more than five thousand elected local governments.
The country offers a multi-party system
Multi-party system
A multi-party system is a system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition, e.g.The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in the United Kingdom formed in 2010. The effective number of parties in a multi-party system is normally...
, with numerous parties. Frequently, no single party holds a majority, and therefore parties must form alliances during or after elections, with coalition governments forming out of negotiations between parties.
2008 Presidential election
- Asif Ali ZardariAsif Ali ZardariAsif Ali Zardari is the 11th and current President of Pakistan and the Co-Chairman of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party . He is also the widower of Benazir Bhutto, who served two nonconsecutive terms as Prime Minister....
- 481 votes - Saeeduzzaman SiddiquiSaeeduzzaman SiddiquiChief Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui or Saeed-uz-zaman Siddiqui in Lukhnow, British India; is a Pakistani Jurist and legislator who formerly served as the Chief Justice of Pakistan at the Supreme Court of Pakistan...
- 153 votes - Mushahid Hussain Syed - 44 votes
- Iqbal M. - 44 votes
- Zaheer abbasZaheer AbbasSyed Zaheer Abbas Kirmani , popularly known as Zaheer Abbas, is a former Pakistani cricketer, regarded as one of the finest batsman produced by that country. He is widely known as the "Asian Bradman", a reference to former Australian great Sir Donald Bradman...
-478 votes
2008 General elections
This election led to strong showings for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N), who signed the Bhurban AccordBhurban Accord
Bhurban Accord is a political agreement signed by two of Pakistan's biggest political powers, the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League and was signed by co-chairman of the PPP Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif it was signed on 8 March 2008 in PC Bhurban in the...
in response to the election results.
| Parties | Votes | % | Elected seats | Reserved seats (Women) | Reserved seats (Minorities) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pakistan Peoples Party Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan Peoples Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Pakistan affiliated with Socialist International. Pakistan People's Party is the largest political party of Pakistan... |
10,606,486 | 30.6% | 97 | 23 | 4 | 124 |
| Pakistan Muslim League (N) Pakistan Muslim League (N) The Pakistan Muslim League is a conservative political party in Pakistan, affiliated with Western conservatism... |
6,781,445 | 19.6% | 71 | 17 | 3 | 91 |
| Pakistan Muslim League (Q) Pakistan Muslim League (Q) The Pakistan Muslim League or officially Pakistan Muslim League is a centrist, modern political party in Pakistan. The present form of PML-Q was formed prior to 2002 general elections.... |
7,989,817 | 23.0% | 42 | 10 | 2 | 54 |
| Muttahida Qaumi Movement Muttahida Qaumi Movement Muttahida Qaumi Movement generally known as MQM, is a liberal-secular political party of Pakistan. It is generally known as a party which holds immense mobilizing potential in province of Sindh... |
2,507,813 | 7.4% | 19 | 5 | 1 | 25 |
| Awami National Party Awami National Party The Awami National Party is an Pashtun nationalist, socialist, centre-left political party in Pakistan affiliated with Socialist International... |
700,479 | 2.0% | 10 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal is a coalition of Islamist parties that was formed in 2002 to electorally challenge the Pakistan Parliament's incumbent parties...
Note: Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami This article is about Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan. For other organizations of similar name see Jamaat-e-Islami The Jamaat-e-Islami , is a Pro-Muslim political party in Pakistan... , Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan The Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan is a political party in Pakistan. It is part of the Islamic Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, that won at the last legislative elections, 20 October 2002, 11.3 of the popular vote and 53 out of 272 elected members.This party belongs to the Sunni current, which in... , Tehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan and Jamiat Ahle Hadith Jamiat Ahle Hadith Jamiat Ahle Hadith is a religio-political party in Pakistan promoting the Ahle Hadees religious movement. It is part of the Islamic fundamentalist Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, that won at the last legislative elections, 20 October 2002 with 11.3 percent of the popular vote... did not participate. |
772,798 | 2.2% | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Pakistan Muslim League (F) Pakistan Muslim League (F) The Pakistan Muslim League is a political party in Pakistan. It is one of the factions of the original Pakistan Muslim League. The letter 'F' in its name stands for functional. It is primarily associated with the Sindhi religious leader Pir Pagara... |
4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| Pakistan Peoples Party (Sherpao) | 140,707 | 0.4% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| National Peoples Party National Peoples Party The National Peoples Party is a political party in Pakistan most active in the province of Sindh and southern parts of Punjab. It was founded in 1986 by Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi after falling out with Benazir Bhutto and leaving her Pakistan Peoples Party.In the 2008 Pakistani general elections the... |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Balochistan National Party (Awami) Balochistan National Party The Balochistan National Party or Balochistan National Party is a political party in Balochistan, Pakistan... |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Independents | 18 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Total | 34,665,978 | 100% | 270 | 60 | 10 | 340 |
| Source: Election Commission of Pakistan, Adam Carr's Electoral Archive | ||||||
2007 Presidential election
- Pervez MusharrafPervez MusharrafPervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
: 671 votes - Wajihuddin AhmedWajihuddin AhmedThe Honorable Right Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed , JD, is a retired and senior associate justice of the Pakistan Supreme Court and a former member of Pakistan's higher judiciary. He served as the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court and then, as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan...
: 8 votes - Invalid: 6 votes
1947-1958
Between 1947 and 1958, there were no direct elections held in Pakistan at the national level. Provincial elections were held occasionally. The West PakistanWest Pakistan
West Pakistan , common name West-Pakistan , in the period between its establishment on 22 November 1955 to disintegration on December 16, 1971. This period, during which, Pakistan was divided, ended when East-Pakistan was disintegrated and succeeded to become which is now what is known as Bangladesh...
provincial elections were described as "a farce, a mockery and a fraud upon the electorate"
The first direct elections held in the country after independence were for the provincial Assembly of the Punjab
West Punjab
West Punjab was a province of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. The province covered an area of 160,622 km², including much of the current Punjab province and the Islamabad Capital Territory, but excluding the former princely state of Bahawalpur. The capital was the city of Lahore and the province...
between 10-20 March 1951. The elections were held for 197 seats. As many as 939 candidates contested the election for 189 seats, while the remaining seats were filled unopposed. Seven political parties were in the race. The election was held on an adult franchise
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
basis with approximately one-million voters. The turnout remained low. In Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, the turnout was 30 per cent of the listed voters and in rural areas of Punjab it was much lower.
On 8 December 1951 the North West Frontier Province held elections for Provincial legislature seats. In a pattern that would be repeated throughout Pakistan's electoral history, many of those who lost accused the winners of cheating and rigging the elections. Similarly, in May, 1953 elections to the Provincial legislature of Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
were held and they were also marred by accusations of rigging. In April 1954, elections were held for the East Pakistan Legislative Assembly, in which the Pakistan Muslim League
Pakistan Muslim League
The Pakistan Muslim League was founded in 1962, as a successor to the previously disbanded Muslim League in Pakistan. Unlike the original PML which ended in 1958 when General Ayub Khan banned all political parties, each subsequent Muslim League was in some way propped by the military dictators of...
lost, and Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
nationalists won.
1988-2008
| Party | 1988 Pakistani general election, 1988 General elections were held in Pakistan on 16 November 1988 to elect the National Assembly of Pakistan. The result was a victory for the Pakistan People's Party, which won 94 of the 207 seats... |
1990 Pakistani general election, 1990 General elections were held in Pakistan on 24 October 1990. The result was a victory for Islami Jamhoori Ittehad, which won 106 of the 207 seats. Voter turnout was 45.5%.-Background:... |
1993 Pakistani general election, 1993 General elections were held in Pakistan on 6 October 1993. The election took place after both the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan resigned to resolve a power struggle between them. Although the Pakistan Muslim League won the largest number of votes, the Pakistan Peoples... |
1997 Pakistani general election, 1997 A general election was held in Pakistan on 3 February 1997 to elect the National Assembly of Pakistan and the four provincial assemblies. The election took place after the previous Pakistan Peoples Party government of Benazir Bhutto was dismissed by President Farooq Leghari for alleged corruption... |
2002 Pakistani general election, 2002 General elections were held in Pakistan on 10 October 2002 during the military regime of Pervez Musharraf.-Parties and candidates:More than 70 parties, contested the election, the main parties were the Peoples Party Parliamentarians, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Group, Muttahida Quami Movement ,... |
2008 Pakistani general election, 2008 A general election was held in Pakistan on 18 February 2008, after being postponed from 8 January 2008. The original date was intended to elect members of the National Assembly of Pakistan, the lower house of the Majlis-e-Shoora... |
| Pakistan Peoples Party | 93 | 44 | 89 | 18 | 81 | 124 |
| Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) | 54 | 106 | 73 | 137 | 19 | 91 |
| Pakistan Muslim League (Q) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 126 | 59 |
| Awami National Party | 2 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 13 |
| Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 | |
| Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)* | 13 | 15 | 0 | 12 | 17 | 25 |
| Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam (Fazlur Rehman) | 7 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| Other Parties/Independents ** | 38 | 30 | 42 | 28 | 36 | 21 |
| Total Turnout | 43.07% | 45.46% | 40.28% | 35.42% | 41.08% | 44.23% |
| Total Seats | 207 | 207 | 207 | 207 | 342 | 340 |
N.B: All elections were contested under a separate electorate system, the 1990 elections had allegations of vote-rigging confirmed by foreign
Foreign
Foreign may refer to:*Foreign corporation, a corporation that can do business outside its jurisdiction*Foreign key, a constraint in a relational database*Foreign language, a language not spoken by the people of a certain place...
observers. The 'MQM' contested the 1988 elections under the name Haq Parast group, it boycotted the 1993 National elections
Pakistani general election, 1993
General elections were held in Pakistan on 6 October 1993. The election took place after both the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan resigned to resolve a power struggle between them. Although the Pakistan Muslim League won the largest number of votes, the Pakistan Peoples...
.