Global Information2024 Pakistani general election information
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 336 seats in the National Assembly[a] 169 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opinion polls | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Registered | 128,585,760 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 47.8%[1] ( 3.9pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Map of Pakistan with National Assembly constituencies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Politics of Pakistan |
|---|
 |
|
 Pakistan portal
|
General elections, originally scheduled to be held in 2023,[3] were held in Pakistan on 8 February 2024 to elect the members of the 16th National Assembly. The Election Commission of Pakistan announced the detailed schedule on 15 December 2023.[4]
The elections were held following two years of political unrest after Prime Minister Imran Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was removed from office by a no-confidence motion. Subsequently, Khan was arrested and convicted for corruption and barred from politics for five years. In the run-up to the elections, a Supreme Court ruling stripped the PTI of their electoral symbol for failing to hold intra-party elections for years.[5][6][7][8]
On election night, television broadcasts showed PTI-backed independent candidates leading in at least 127 national assembly seats, which hinted at a potential majority. However, the announcement of final results was abruptly halted.[9] Subsequently, independent candidates ended up winning 103 general seats including 93 backed by the PTI, followed by 75 from the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) and 54 from the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). In Punjab and Sindh provinces, the PML-N and the PPP respectively emerged as the largest parties. Independent candidates backed by the PTI won the most number of seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while Balochistan voted for the PPP and the PML-N as the largest parties. Later all parties except the PTI were given reserved seats for women and minorities.
The Military Establishment was accused of rigging in favour of the PML-N's leader Nawaz Sharif to keep the PTI's leader Imran Khan out of the electoral race.[10][11][12][13][14] Observer groups and members of the international community, including the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union, have voiced their concerns about the fairness of the elections,[15][16] while media outlets around the world denounced the election as "fraudulent".[17]
PTI chair Gohar Ali Khan alleged election rigging and claimed that the party had won 180 National Assembly seats as per provisional election results.[18] PTI-backed independent candidates did not secure a majority, but they managed to win more seats than any other single party.[19] Imran Khan also cited alleged election rigging, and declined to forge alliances with other parties to establish a coalition government and instead opted to assume an opposition role in parliament.[20]
At a press conference on 13 February 2024, it was announced by the leaders of the PML-N and the PPP that they would form a coalition government with the PML-N's Shehbaz Sharif as prime minister.[21] The Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan (MQM-P), the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q), the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) and the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) also expressed their intent to join the governmental coalition.[22] On 3 March, Shehbaz Sharif was re-elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan for the second time, securing 201 votes against the 92 votes received by the PTI-backed Omar Ayub Khan. With no party securing a majority in the assembly, Shehbaz became prime minister with support from the PML-N's allies, including the PPP, MQM-P, PML-Q, BAP, IPP and other smaller parties.[23]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "Voters' turnout remain 48 percent in election: FAFEN report". The Express Tribune. 10 February 2024. Archived from the original on 10 February 2024. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
- ^ "General Elections 2024 Pakistan Dashboard". Gallup Pakistan Digital Analytics. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ Hussain, Abid. "Pakistan parliament dissolved to hold election without ex-PM Imran Khan". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
- ^ "Election Commission of Pakistan". Archived from the original on 6 January 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ "Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan barred from politics for 5 years". Al Jazeera. 8 August 2023. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
- ^ "Pakistan's Imran Khan still barred from vote after conviction appeal fails -lawyer". Reuters. 21 December 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
theguardian/10feb24was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah; Baloch, Shah Meer (11 February 2024). "Protests take place across Pakistan amid election vote-rigging allegations". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Intercept/9feb24was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Pakistan's generals look increasingly desperate". The Economist. 14 March 2024. Archived from the original on 14 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
- ^ Hussain, Abid. "Why Nawaz Sharif failed to win Pakistan election despite tacit army support". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 12 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
washingtonpost/12feb24was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Hussain, Abid. "'Election engineering': Is Pakistan's February vote already rigged?". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 15 January 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ "The 'generals' elections' in Pakistan that turned against the military". France 24. 9 February 2024. Archived from the original on 10 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ "How Is The World Reacting To Pakistan General Election?: US, UK, Iran, Australia". dawn.com. 10 February 2024. Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ "What the international media had to say about the elections that were everything but predictable". dawn.com. 11 February 2024. Archived from the original on 15 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
theintercept/28feb24was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "PTI's Gohar Khan says party won 180 NA seats in Feb 8 polls". dawn.com. 18 February 2024. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
- ^ "Pakistan's Generals Fail to Fix the Election". TIME. 7 March 2024. Archived from the original on 7 March 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- ^ "Pakistan's 'King of Chaos' Imran Khan keeps winning even behind bars". 2 March 2024. Archived from the original on 2 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
form a coalitionwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Shehbaz prevailswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "PML-N's Shehbaz Sharif elected prime minister for second time". The Express Tribune. 3 March 2024. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.