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General elections are scheduled to be held in
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
less than 60 days after the dissolution of the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
, which is set to dissolve on 13 August 2023, unless dissolved earlier: in which case the election shall be held within 90 days after dissolution according to the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
. This means that the election must be held no later than 12 October 2023.


Background


2018 elections

General elections were held in
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
on Wednesday 25 July 2018 after the completion of a five-year term by the outgoing government. At the national level, elections were held in 272 constituencies, each electing one member to the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
. At the provincial level, elections were held in each of the four provinces to elect Members of the Provincial Assemblies (MPA). As a result of the elections, the
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI; ur, , ) is a political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI is one of the thre ...
(PTI) became the single largest party at the national level both in terms of both popular vote and seats. At the provincial level, the PTI remained the largest party in
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
(KP); the
Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded ...
(PPP) remained the largest party in
Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
and the newly-formed
Balochistan Awami Party The Balochistan Awami Party ( ur, , lit=Balochistan People's Party) is a political party based in the Balochistan province of Pakistan founded in 2018 by political dissidents of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) ...
(BAP) became the largest party in
Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
. In
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
, a hung parliament prevailed with
Pakistan Muslim League (N) The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ( ur, , translit=Pākistān Muslim Līg (Nūn) PML(N) or PML-N) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal conservative political party in Pakistan. Alongside the Pakistan Teh ...
(PML-N) emerging as the largest party in terms of directly elected seats by a narrow margin. However, following the joining of many
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...
MPAs into the PTI, the latter became the largest party and was able to form the government.
Opinion polling An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...
prior to campaigning had initially shown leads for the
Pakistan Muslim League (N) The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ( ur, , translit=Pākistān Muslim Līg (Nūn) PML(N) or PML-N) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal conservative political party in Pakistan. Alongside the Pakistan Teh ...
(PML-N) over the PTI. However, from an 11-point lead, the PML-N's lead began to diminish in the final weeks of the campaign, with some polls close to the election showing PTI with a marginal but increasing lead. In the final result, the PTI made a net gain with 31.82% of the vote (its highest share of the vote since its foundation), while the PML-N made a net loss with 24.35%. In the lead-up to the elections, there had been allegations by some pre-poll rigging being conducted by the judiciary, the military and the intelligence agencies to sway the election results in favour of the PTI and against the PML-N. The opposition to the winning parliamentary party alleged large-scale vote rigging and administrative malpractices. However, Reuters polling suggested PML-N's lead had narrowed in the run-up to the elections, and that the party had suffered "blow after blow" which caused setbacks to any hopes of re-election. Some had termed the ruling PML-N "embattled... facing a number of desertion and corruption charges". Imran Khan proceeded to form the coalition government, announcing his cabinet soon after. The newly formed coalition government included members of the
Muttahida Qaumi Movement Muttahida Qaumi Movement (abbreviated MQM) is a name currently claimed by two competing Pakistani political factions: * Muttahida Qaumi Movement – London, a political faction managed from the UK * Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan Muttah ...
and
Pakistan Muslim League (Q) The Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid e Azam Group) ur, ; ''Pākistān Muslim Līg (Qāf)'', Acronyms: PML(Q), PML-Q, PMLQ, "Q League") is a Conservative nationalist political party in Pakistan. As of the 2018 parliamentary election, it has a re ...
. Regarding the voting process, the
Election Commission of Pakistan The Election Commission of Pakistan ( ur, ; ECP) is an independent, autonomous, permanent and constitutionally established federal body responsible for organizing and conducting elections to the national parliament, provincial legislatures, l ...
(ECP) outrightly rejected reports of rigging and stated that the elections were conducted fair and free. A top electoral watchdog,
Free and Fair Election Network Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) is the first-ever network of civil society networks in Pakistan dedicated to strengthening democracy through methodically-enacted observation and oversight of electoral, parliamentary, and governance processe ...
(FAFEN), also said that the 2018 general elections in Pakistan had been "more transparent in some aspects" than the previous polls. In its preliminary report, the European Union Election Observation Mission said that no rigging had been observed during the election day in general, but found a "lack of equality" and criticized the process more than it had in the Pakistani election of 2013.


Electoral system

The 336 members of the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
consist of 266 general seats elected by
first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
in single-member constituencies, 60 seats reserved for women elected by
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
based on the number of general seats won by each party in each province, and ten seats reserved for non-Muslims elected through proportional representation based on the number of overall general seats won by each party. The
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
had passed a bill that required the next general elections to be held using EVMs (electronic voting machines). This was aimed at bringing an end to the allegations of rigging that have plagued previous elections in Pakistan, but the opposition's opinion was that it would make it extremely easy for PTI to rig the elections in their favour through security loopholes. In 2022 when the PTI-led government was ousted through a successful
vote of no-confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
in the National Assembly, the 11 opposition parties, some of them being long-time rivals, formed a new government and passed the Elections Amendment Bill, which nullified the use of EVMs in the next general elections. Hence, EVMs will not be used in next general elections.


Parties

The table below lists each party that either received a share of the vote higher than 0.5% in the 2018 Pakistan general election or had representation in the 15th National Assembly of Pakistan. Political parties are ordered by their vote share in the 2018 elections. Independent Candidates bagged 11.46% of the vote and 13 national assembly seats (both general seats and total seats in the 15th National Assembly, as reserved seats for women and minorities, are given to political parties) in 2018. ,
Populism Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

Islamic democracy There exist a number of perspectives on the relationship of Islam and democracy among Islamic political theorists, the general Muslim public, and Western authors. In 2021, a number of Muslim majority countries are Islamic and secular democra ...

Welfarism In its most general sense, welfarism is a #As a theory of value, theory about what has value or what matters. It can be defined as the view that well-being is the only thing that has Axiology#Intrinsic value, intrinsic value. ''Pure welfarists'' ho ...

Anti-corruption Anti-corruption (or anticorruption) comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive measu ...

Civic nationalism Civic nationalism, also known as liberal nationalism, is a form of nationalism identified by political philosophers who believe in an inclusive form of nationalism that adheres to traditional liberal values of freedom, tolerance, equality, in ...
,
Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...
, 31.82% , , , - ! style="background:;", !PML(N) !
Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ( ur, , translit=Pākistān Muslim Līg (Nūn) PML(N) or PML-N) is a centre-right and liberal conservative political party in Pakistan. Alongside the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Party ...

} ,
Conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

Economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...

Federalism Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (Province, provincial, State (sub-national), state, Canton (administrative division), can ...
,
Shehbaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: , ; born 23 September 1951) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who is currently serving as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan, in office since 11 April 2022. He is the current president of ...
, 24.35% , , , - ! style="background:;", !PPP !
Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded ...

} ,
Social democracy Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

Secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...

Nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

Democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self- ...
,
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Bilawal Bhutto Zardari ( ur, بلاول بھٹو زرداری; born 21 September 1988) is a Pakistani politician who is serving as the 37th Minister of Foreign Affairs, in office since 27 April 2022. He became the chairman of Pakistan Peopl ...
, 13.03% , , , - ! style="background:;", !MMA !
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal The Muttahida Majlis–e–Amal (MMA; Urdu: , "United Council of Action") is a political alliance consisting of conservative, Islamist, religious, and far-right parties of Pakistan. Naeem Siddiqui (the founder of Tehreek e Islami) proposed suc ...

} ,
Islamism Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is ...

Conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
,
Fazl-ur-Rahman Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman ( ur, مولانا فضلُرحمٰن; born 19 June 1953) is a Pakistani Islamic fundamentalist politician who is the president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F). He is also the president of the Pakistan Democratic Movement ...
, 4.85% , , , - ! style="background:;", !MQM(P) !
Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan Muttahida Qaumi Movement (Pakistan) ( ur, MQM-P) is a Social liberal Muhajir nationalist Secular political party. The leader of the party is Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui. The party's symbol is the kite. It is mostly active in Karachi where up ...

} ,
Liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

Social liberalism Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

Social democracy Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

Muhajir nationalism
Secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...
,
Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui () is a Pakistani politician who had been Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, in office from 20 August 2018 to 06 April 2020. He has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, sin ...
, 1.38% , , , - ! style="background:;", !TLP !
Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (; TLP) is a far-right Islamic extremist political party in Pakistan. The party was founded by Khadim Hussain Rizvi in August 2015. It became the fifth largest party at the 2018 Pakistani general election, but faile ...

} ,
Islamism Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is ...
, Saad Hussain Rizvi , 4.21% , , , - ! style="background:;", !GDA !
Grand Democratic Alliance The Grand Democratic Alliance ( ur, گرانڈ جمہوری اتحاد) or GDA is a political alliance in Pakistan. It was founded on 23 October 2017 as a political movement, movement against the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government in the Sind ...

} , Regionalism ,
Pir Pagaro Sibghatullah Shah Rashdi III ( sd, صبغت الله شاهه راشدي, ur, ), also known as Raja Saein, the eighth Pir Pagaro, (born 14 February 1956) is a Pakistani politician who has served as a member of Provincial Assembly of Sindh. E ...
, 2.37% , , , - ! style="background:;", !ANP !
Awami National Party The Awami National Party (ANP; ur, , ps, اولسي ملي ګوند; lit. ''People's National Party'') is a Pashtun nationalist, secular and leftist political party in Pakistan. The party was founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986 and its curr ...

} ,
Pashtun nationalism Pashtun nationalism ( ps, پښتون ملتپالنه) generally refers to the idea that Pashtuns must always be united to preserve their culture and defend their homeland against any oppressor. It propagates the view that Muslims are not a nation ...

Democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self- ...

Secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...
,
Asfandyar Wali Khan Asfandyar Wali Khan (Urdu and Pashto: اسفندیار ولی خان) (born 19 February 1949) is a Pakistani Pashtun politician who is the president of the Awami National Party (ANP). His father, Abdul Wali Khan, was the party's first presiden ...
, 1.54% , , , - ! style="background:;", !PML(Q) ! ,
Conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

Pakistani nationalism Pakistani nationalism refers to the political, cultural, linguistic, historical, ommonlyreligious and geographical expression of patriotism by the people of Pakistan, of pride in the history, heritage and identity of Pakistan, and visions for ...
, Shujaat Hussain , 0.97% , , , - ! style="background:;", !BAP ! ,
Federalism Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (Province, provincial, State (sub-national), state, Canton (administrative division), can ...

Islamic democracy There exist a number of perspectives on the relationship of Islam and democracy among Islamic political theorists, the general Muslim public, and Western authors. In 2021, a number of Muslim majority countries are Islamic and secular democra ...
,
Jam Kamal Khan Jam Mir Kamal Khan Alyani (; born 1 January 1970) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 16th Chief Minister of Balochistan, between August 2018 and October 2021. He has been a member of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan since August 2 ...
, 0.60% , , , - ! style="background:;", !BNP(M) ! ,
Baloch nationalism __NOTOC__ Baloch nationalism ( Baloch: راج دۏستی بلۏچی) asserts that the Baloch people, an ethnic group native to Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan are a distinct nation, and that their ethnicity overrides religious loyalty. The origins o ...

Democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self- ...

Secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...
,
Akhtar Mengal Akhtar Mengal (born 6 October 1962) is a politician from Balochistan who is the chairman of Balochistan National Party (Mengal). He previously served as the Chief Minister of Balochistan between 1997 and 1998 and later he served as a member of t ...
, 0.45% , , , - ! style="background:;", !AML ! Awami Muslim League Pakistan
} ,
Islamism Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is ...

Populism Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...
,
Shaikh Rasheed Ahmad Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad ( ur, ; born 6 November 1950) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 38th Interior Minister of Pakistan from 2020 to 2022. He is famous because of his smoking cigars and Laal Haveli. He is the founder and leader of A ...
, 0.22% , , , - ! style="background:;", !JWP !
Jamhoori Wattan Party The Jamhoori Wattan Party ( ur, جمہوری وطن پارٹی, lit=Republican National Party) is a political party in Balochistan, Pakistan. The party has split into two factions, with the non-dominant one led by Baramdagh Bugti splitting off to ...

} ,
Baloch nationalism __NOTOC__ Baloch nationalism ( Baloch: راج دۏستی بلۏچی) asserts that the Baloch people, an ethnic group native to Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan are a distinct nation, and that their ethnicity overrides religious loyalty. The origins o ...
,
Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti is a Pakistani politician who has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since August 2018. He served as Special Assistant to Prime Minister of Pakistan, Prime Minister on Reconciliation and Harmony in Balochi ...
, 0.04% , ,


Opinion polls

In the run up to the 2023 Pakistani general elections, various organisations have been carrying out opinion polling to gauge voting intention throughout
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and the approval rating of the civilian Pakistani government, led by
Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...
's
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI; ur, , ) is a political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI is one of the thre ...
. The results of such polls are displayed in this section. The date range for these opinion polls are from the previous general election, held on 25 July 2018, to the present day.


National Assembly Voting intention

The results in the tables below (excluding the column on undecided voters and non-voters) exclude survey participants who said they wouldn't vote or they didn't know who they would vote for and add up to 100%. In polls that include undecided voters or non-voters, percentages are adjusted upwards in order to make the total equal 100%. Margins of error are also adjusted upwards at the same rate to account for the increase.


Nationwide


Punjab


Sindh


Khyber Pakhtunkhwa


Government approval rating

The results in this table show polls that surveyed whether people approved or disapproved of either the overall (''not on a single issue'') performance of the federal government in Islamabad or the Prime Minister’s overall performance since 18 August 2018. The same rounding restrictions that were given in the previous section do not apply here, so occasionally, results will add up to 101% or 99% due to rounding errors, and neutral respondents (when data is available for them) are counted in this table, unlike the last table.


Notes


References

{{Pakistani elections
2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
Future elections in Pakistan