Elections in Pakistan

In addition to the national parliament and the provincial assemblies, Pakistan also has more than five thousand elected local governments.

The Pakistan Constitution defines (to a basic extent) how general elections are held in Part VIII, Chapter 2 and various amendments.

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.

[4] Incumbent Prime Minister of East Pakistan Mr. Nurul Amin lost his parliament seat to a veteran student leader and language movement stalwart Khaleque Nawaz Khan in Mr. Amin's home constituency Nandail of Mymensingh district.

After a decades-long struggle, the military government was forced to transfer power to democratically elected officials.

But the military government, at the request of opposition leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, refused to transfer power to the elected Parliament, causing the beginning of the Bangladesh Liberation War.

In 1988, the general elections were held again which marked the PPP coming in power but dismissed in two years following the lawlessness situation in the country.

Despite her tough rhetoric, Prime Minister Bhutto's own position deteriorated in her native province, Sindh, and lost her support following the death of her younger brother.

Tales of high-scale corruption cases also maligned her image in the country and was dismissed from her post by her own hand-picked president in 1996.

The 1997 general elections saw the centre-right, Pakistan Muslim League (N), or PML (N), ging the exclusive mandate in the country and supermajority in the parliament.

The 2008 general elections allowed the PPP, assisted by the left-wing alliance, further consolidated in opposition to Musharraf, though it was plagued with loadshedding, law and order situations, foreign policy issues, and poor economic performances.

Pakistan's two main opposition parties, the PPP and the PML (N) won the majority of seats in the election.

The PPP and PML (N) formed the new coalition government with Yousaf Raza Gillani as Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Wanting a controlled democracy, President Mirza dismissed four prime ministers in less than two years and his, position in the country was quickly deteriorated amid his actions.

In 1958, Mirza imposed the martial law under its enforcer General, Ayub Khan, but was also dismissed the same year.

There were two main contestants: the Pakistan Muslim League led by President Ayub Khan and the Combined Opposition Parties (COP) under the leadership of Fatima Jinnah.

Witnessing the events in 1965, the new drafted constitution created the Electoral College system, making the president as mere figurehead.

[11] With special powers granted to President GI Khan, he dismissed two elected governms ent durithe ng periof od 1990 and 1993; he too was forced out from the office the same year.

[11] After the 1993 general election, the PPP nominated Farooq Leghari who soon secured majority votes in the parliament.

As Musharraf was forced out from power, Asif Zardari of PPP became president after a close presidential elections in 2008.

The seats in the National Assembly are allocated to each of four provinces, the FATA and the federal capital on the basis of population in accordance with the last officially published census.

Members to the seats reserved for women and non-Muslims, are elected in accordance with the law through the proportional representation system of political party's lists of candidates on the basis of total number of general seats secured by each political party in the National Assembly or a provincial assembly.

The president is a ceremonial post, head of state, and merely a figurehead with the executive powers granted to the prime minister, by the Constitution.

[19] Read more at Zimni elections in Pakistan A person who is a citizen of Pakistan, is enrolled as a voter in any electoral roll under the Electoral Rolls Act 1974 and in case of National/Provincial Assemblies is not less than 25 years of age and in case of Senate not less than 30 years of age, is of good character and is not commonly known as one who violates Islamic injunctions, has adequate knowledge of Islamic teachings and practices, obligatory duties prescribed by Islam as well as abstains from major sin, is sagacious, righteous and non-profligate, honest and ameen, has not been convicted for a crime involving moral turpitude or for giving false evidence, and has not, after establishment of Pakistan, worked against the integrity of the country or opposed the ideology of Pakistan and is graduate, can contest the elections and become a member of the Parliament or a Provincial Assembly.

A person, who is a citizen of Pakistan, is not less than 18 years of age on the first day of January of the year in which the rolls are prepared or revised, is not declared by a competent court to be of unsound mind and is or is deemed to be a resident of an electoral area, can get their selves enrolled as a voter in that electoral area.