Provincial elections are scheduled to be held 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. ...

within 60 days after the dissolution of the

Provincial Assembly Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

, which is set to dissolve in August 2023, unless dissolved earlier: in which case the election shall be held within 90 days after dissolution. This means that the election must be held by or before 12 October 2023.

Electoral system

The 65 seats of the

Balochistan Assembly The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Balochistan, and is located in Quetta, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of ...

consist of 51 general seats, whose members are elected by the

first-past-the-post 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 ...

voting system through single-member constituencies. 11 seats are reserved for women and 3 seats are reserved for non-Muslims. The members on these seats are elected through proportional representation based on the total number of general seats secured by each political party.

Background

In the 2018 election, 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) in ...

(BAP), created by former members of

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 ...

(PML-Q) and

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), emerged as the largest party in the province by winning 24 seats. The

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 ...

(MMA) and the

Balochistan National Party (Mengal) The Balochistan National Party or Balochistan National Party (Mengal) (Urdu: بلوچستان نيشنل پارٹی ; ) is a political party in Balochistan, Pakistan. BNP believes in more provincial rights and greater autonomy for Baluchistan prov ...

(BNP-M) became the second and third largest parties by securing 10 seats each. 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) won 7 seats and emerged as the fourth largest party in the province for the very first time. The PML(N), the

Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party The Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (; ), abbreviated as PMAP or PKMAP, is a political party in Pakistan's Balochistan province. It was founded by Mahmood Khan Achakzai, who was elected as the chairman, and Sher Ali Bacha, who served as the General ...

(PMAP) and the National Party faced their worst ever defeats, as they won one, one, and zero seats, respectively. Since no party got the majority, the BAP, PTI,

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 ...

(ANP) and

Hazara Democratic Party The Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) ( ur, ہزارہ ڈیموکریٹک پارٹی): is a political party of the Hazara people in Pakistan. It is mainly active in Quetta city, where up to half a million Hazara currently reside. Establishment In ...

(HDP) formed a coalition government. On 26 September 2021, a political crisis occurred in the province after a motion of a no-confidence motion was tabled against Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani. Alyani resigned on 24 October 2021.

Abdul Quddus Bizenjo Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo ( ur, ; born 1 January 1974) is a Pakistani politician who has been serving as the Chief Minister of Balochistan province of Pakistan since 29 October 2021. He has been a member of the Provincial Assembly of Balochista ...

became the new Chief Minister on 29 October 2021.

Notes

References

{{Election History in Pakistan Elections in Balochistan 2023 elections in Pakistan