Next Pakistani general election

Next Pakistani general election
on or before 12 October 2023
All 342 seats in the National Assembly
172 seats needed for a majority

 
Leader Imran Khan Shehbaz Sharif Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
Party PTI PML (N) PPP
Leader since 25 April 1996 6 March 2018 30 December 2007
Last election 149 seats, 31.82% 82 seats, 24.35% 54 seats, 13.03%
Seats needed Increase 23 Increase 90 Increase 118
Incumbent Prime Minister

Imran Khan
PTI

General elections are scheduled to be held in Pakistan less than 60 days after the dissolution of the National Assembly, which is set to dissolve on 13 August 2023, unless dissolved earlier: in which case the election shall be held 90 days after dissolution. This means that the election must be held by or before 12 October 2023.[1]

Background

2018 elections

Following the elections in 2018, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf led by former cricket captain of the Pakistan national cricket team Imran Khan emerged as the largest party, winning 149 out of a total of 342 seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan. Despite being short of a majority, Independents and smaller parties such as the MQM-P helped Khan to form a government.[2]

During the election campaign, Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML (N)) led by former Chief Minister of Punjab Shehbaz Sharif campaigned on a platform of being “victimised by hidden forces”. Despite opinion polls close to the election showing a close contest, the actual result of the election showed the PTI with a lead of over 50 seats on the PML-N in the directly elected seats, and also gave it a lead of around 7.5 percentage points, despite polls suggesting it only had a lead of up to 4 percentage points. The PML-N was deprived of the chance of forming a government in Punjab, a province seen as it’s stronghold.[3]

Most parties apart from the PTI cried foul at the result and claimed that it was rigged.[4]

Electoral system

The 342 seats of the National Assembly consist of 272 elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies,[5] 60 seats are reserved for women and 10 for minority groups. The reserved seats are elected by proportional representation based on the national vote share in the single-member constituencies with a 5% electoral threshold.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "The Constitution of Pakistan, Part VIII: Elections".
  2. ↑ "Imran Khan elected as Pakistan's prime minister". www.aljazeera.com.
  3. ↑ Butt, Shafiq (2 May 2018). "PML-N to compete against 'hidden forces' in elections: Nawaz".
  4. ↑ Azfar-ul-Ashfaque, Amir Wasim (26 July 2018). "PTI delivers knockout punch; six major parties cry foul". Text " Zulqernain Tahir " ignored (help)
  5. ↑ Electoral system IPU
  6. ↑ Pakistan IFES


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