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All 342 seats in theNational Assembly 172 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 80,724,153 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 44.34% ( 2.58pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Results by constituency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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General elections were held inPakistan on 18 February 2008 to elect members of the13thNational Assembly and the fourProvincial Assemblies.[1][2]
On 3 November 2007PresidentPervez Musharraf enacted astate of emergency; elections were initially postponed indefinitely.[3] However, it was later stated they would be held as planned.[4] On 8 November 2007 Musharraf announced that the elections would be held by 15 February 2008,[5] before suggesting a date of 8 January.[6] Following theassassination of former Prime MinisterBenazir Bhutto in December 2007, theElection Commission conducted a meeting and announced that 8 January was no longer a feasible date and the elections would be held on 18 February.[7]
The elections saw the resurgence of thePakistan Peoples Party (PPP) andPakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N), as they emerged as the two largest parties in the National Assembly. Following Bhutto's death, the PPP had come under the leadership of her nineteen-year-old sonBilawal. However, the party's election campaign was led by Benazir's husband and Bilawal's fatherAsif Ali Zardari, in his capacity as the co-chairman of the party. Meanwhile, PML-N was under the leadership ofChaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, although the party's eponymous founderNawaz Sharif had returned from exile and was taking part in the Election campaign. At the provincial level, the PPP won in Sindh, the PML-N dominated in Punjab, theAwami National Party emerged as the largest party inNorth-West Frontier Province and Musharraf'sPakistan Muslim League (Q) won the most seats in Balochistan. Around 35.2 million people voted, withvoter turnout just 44%.[8]
Musharraf conceded the defeat of his party and pledged to work with the newParliament.[9] Due to a common mistrust of Musharraf, the PPP and PML-N initially formed a coalition government. AlthoughAmeen Faheem was expected to lead the new government, PPP leaders agreed to appointYousaf Raza Gillani asPrime Minister. Within a week, the PML-N left the coalition to lead theimpeachment movement and a campaign to restore thejudiciary. The PPP instead formed a government with theMuttahida Qaumi Movement, Awami National Party andJamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F).
By-elections for 28 seats (23 provincial and five national) were delayed numerous times, with most of them held as late as 26 June 2008.
Since 2004, there was a sharp rise ofterrorism incidents took place during thepresidency of GeneralPervez Musharraf. Aserious incident took place inRed Mosque located inIslamabad whenPolice'sspecial forces conducted an armed raid in the Mosque. The general elections were dealt with a great shock on 27 December 2007 whenBenazir Bhutto wasassassinated while leaving a rally inRawalpindi. Bhutto's assassination raised many questions as to whether the general election would be postponed. Following the fatal attack, Pervez Musharraf held an emergency meeting with other government officials, but stated that "no decision had been made on whether to delay the national elections."[10]
Benazir Bhutto had "become an appealing solution" toUnited States officials frustrated with President Musharraf's failure to restoredemocracy to Pakistan,The New York Times said.
ThePML(N) stated after the assassination that his party would boycott the election.[11] ThePML(N) later stated that the party would take part ifPPP contests the election.[12] ThePPP then decided to nameBenazir Bhutto's son,Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the new party leader with his fatherAsif Ali Zardari as co-leader, as asked for in Benazir Bhutto's testament. The party also decided that it would contest the elections and stated that the elections should be held as planned.
TheElection Commission announced after a meeting in Islamabad that an 8 January vote was no longer possible and the election would take place on 18 February.[7]
In the weeks preceding the election, there were several attacks targeting leftist politicians and political rallies. On 9 February, asuicide car bomb killed 27 and injured 37 attending a political rally for theAwami National Party inCharsadda.[13] On 16 February, anothersuicide car bomb that killed 37 and injured 93 outside the residence ofPPP candidateRiaz Shah inParachinar.[14] The same day, a suicide attack on anarmy outpost inSwat Valley killed two civilians and injured eight people.[14] A polling location inBajaur was destroyed by militants earlier.[14]
Code of conduct for the election has been proposed by theCitizens' Group on Electoral Process (CGEP) to theElection Commission of Pakistan and the political parties. This suggests that all stakeholders should agree on a set of rules as early as possible, in order to provide a level playing field for a fair general election.[15]
There have been concerns from theUnited States that Pakistan has not been doing enough to assist in their war on terrorism. Musharraf has rejected such claims, stating "The fight against terrorism and extremism, whether it is al-Qaeda or Taliban, can never succeed without Pakistan's cooperation and Pakistan is the only country that has delivered the maximum on both. We are tackling them with 30,000 troops. If there is anybody who is not doing enough, it is others who are not doing enough."[2] Opposition parties, especially the religiousMuttahida Majlis-e-Amal coalition, are opposed to Pakistan's role as ally of the United States in thewar on terrorism.[16] A car bomb killed 40 people and wounded 90 16 February 2008 in northern Pakistan when it exploded in front of an election office of the oppositionPakistan Peoples Party.[17]
To ensure the transparent elections the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN)[18] played a vital role in election monitoring. A part from this number of opposition parties called for the resignation of PresidentPervez Musharraf to ensure free and fair elections under acaretaker government.[19] On 8 July 2007 opposition parties issued a declaration of their demands for the elections.[19] The parties included were thePakistan Peoples Party,Pakistan Muslim League (N) andMuttahida Majlis-e-Amal. Regarding the election, the declaration had the following clauses:[19]Former Prime Minister Pakistan Ch. Shujaat claimed that United States managed results of 2008 general elections. In atelevised interview with Channel 5 of Pakistan on 31 March 2017, Ch. Shujaat claimed that American authorities along with the then Senator (who became vice-president thereafter) Joe Biden visited him two days before general elections of 2008 at his (Shujaat) residence in Lahore and said that US would not accept election results if his (Shujaat) party won
- The formation of a caretaker government of national consensus, in consultation with the opposition parties to hold free, fair and honest elections. Its members will not contest the elections.
- The appointment of a neutral Chief Election Commissioner and members of the Election Commission in consultation with the opposition parties.
- The dissolution of local governments three months prior to the holding of the general elections.
- The caretaker government of national consensus shall appoint officers with no political affiliation in Election Commission, federal, provincial and district governments.
- Repeal of all discriminatory election laws, to ensure even playing fields and the implementation of fair election proposals.
- Implementation of the jointly agreed criteria for holding of fair and free elections.
- To keep under review the steps being taken to ensure free, fair and honest elections and to collectively through consensus take any decision which may include aboycott of elections in the extreme case at the appropriate time.
- To firmly resist collectively the machinations of the regime to postpone the general elections by imposing emergency or under any other pretext.
- To struggle collectively for the removal of dictatorship from Pakistan and confine the role of the armed forces to that prescribed in the Constitution of 1973. It demands immediate withdrawal of military personnel from all civilian departments and posts. It demands closure of the political cells of all the military, security and intelligence agencies.
Thirty-two parties opposed to Musharraf have joined in a loosepolitical alliance calledAll Parties Democratic Movement; the PPP, one of the main parties, was not a part of this alliance.
As Musharraf had stated that the elections would be held under thestate of emergency, at least three parties stated they will boycott such elections, fearing that they would not be free and fair: the PML (N),Jamaat-e-Islami andTehreek-i-Insaaf.[20]
The opposition parties jointly stated that the elections could not be fair, as most opposition candidates were in jail under the state of emergency and thus unable to file nomination papers for the election.[21]
On 23 November 2007 PPP members were given the go-ahead to register for the elections, while still reserving the decision to boycott the election.[22]
Imran Khan, the Tehreek-i-Insaaf leader, restated his call for a boycott on 23 November 2007, the day the APDM was to decide on whether to boycott the elections jointly.[23]
Upon his return to Pakistan on 26 November 2007Nawaz Sharif stated he would run in the elections only if the state of emergency was lifted before the polls,[24] and that he would not serve as Prime Minister under Musharraf.[25] However, Sharif's candidacy was rejected on 3 December due to his prior criminal conviction.[26]
On 10 December 2007 Sharif and Bhutto finally announced they would not boycott the election, despite their fears that the election would be neither free nor fair.[27]
ThePakistan Peoples Party (PPP) campaigned on wide range of issues, including country'srole in terrorism,nationalization,immigration andforeign policy. ThePPP is acentre-left political party and promotes the proponents ofsocial democracy. During the election campaign,Benazir highlighted the success ofcomputer literacy programme that was launched in 1993 and gas pipelines infrastructure that was initiated in 1995.
ThePakistan Muslim League-N's political campaign was led byNisar Ali Khan, in the absence ofNawaz Sharif. ThePML(N) is acentre-right political party and primarily targeted thePervez Musharraf andPML(Q)'s government initiatives to resolve thelaw and order situation in the country. Due toPervez Musharraf baringNawaz Sharif to return to the country, thePML-N's campaign was restricted in all over the country.
In a poll from theInternational Republican Institute conducted from 19 to 29 January, the PPP led with 50%, followed byPML-N with 22% and Musharraf's PML-Q with 14%. The ultraconservativeMuttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) had 1% andMuttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) 1%.[28] Due to its unprecedented lead in the opinion polls, most commentators believedPPP could win a landslide victory. However, the actual results were much smaller forPPP. In the first three counts to finish, the opposition did well: The provincial assembly seat inBaluchistan went to the PPP—the party of assassinated former Prime MinisterBenazir Bhutto—while two independent candidates won seats from the northern tribal areas.[29] Unofficial returns 19 February 2008 showed huge wins for the opposition parties of former Prime MinistersNawaz Sharif and the slainBenazir Bhutto, one day after a pivotal vote that could threaten Pakistani PresidentPervez Musharraf's political viability.[30] Pakistan's two main opposition parties, the PPP and the PML (N) announced 21 February 2008 they would form a new government together after their victory over PresidentPervez Musharraf's allies in elections the week of 18 February 2008.[31] Shortly after making their coalition official, Pakistan's main opposition parties, thePakistan Peoples Party and thePakistan Muslim League (N), on 9 March 2008 called on PresidentPervez Musharraf to immediately convene parliament (Majlis-e-Shoora).[32]
Results indicated thatPPP andPML(N) secured the largest popularity votes in the elections– both campaigned on targetingMusharraf and had been politically active againstMusharraf since 2003. ThePML(Q) ofMusharraf eminently faced the defeat, including 22 higher officials of thePML(Q) who were thecabinet ministers which constituted a bulk of the previous federal cabinet.
ThePML(Q)'s president,Shujaat Hussain andChief Minister of PunjabPervez Illahi lost their respected seats. Others belonging toPML(Q) who also lost the elections includes:
On 21 February, it was announced that the PPP and the PML (N) would form acoalition government.[34] The coalition would also include theAwami National Party.
Following the election, seven independents joined the PPP, whilst three joined PML-N.[35]
 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |||||
| General | Women | Minority | Total | |||||
| Pakistan Peoples Party | 10,666,548 | 30.77 | 89 | 23 | 4 | 116 | ||
| Pakistan Muslim League (Q) | 7,962,473 | 22.97 | 42 | 10 | 2 | 54 | ||
| Pakistan Muslim League (N) | 6,917,752 | 19.95 | 68 | 17 | 3 | 88 | ||
| Muttahida Qaumi Movement | 2,573,795 | 7.42 | 19 | 5 | 1 | 25 | ||
| Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal | 769,638 | 2.22 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| Awami National Party | 704,811 | 2.03 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 13 | ||
| Pakistan Muslim League (F) | 685,684 | 1.98 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| National Peoples Party | 148,892 | 0.43 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Pakistan Peoples Party (Sherpao) | 141,975 | 0.41 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Balochistan National Party (Awami) | 72,956 | 0.21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Pakistan Democratic Party | 64,505 | 0.19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Sindh United Party | 33,642 | 0.10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| National Party | 27,076 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pakistan Awami Party | 19,248 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pakistan Peoples Party (Shaheed Bhutto) | 14,292 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pakistan Citizen Movement | 5,441 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pakistan Bachao Party | 5,147 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Jamit Ahle Hadith Pakistan-Elahi Zheer | 4,008 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (S) | 3,885 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Hazara Democratic Party | 3,174 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Awami Himayat Tehreek Pakistan | 2,929 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pasban | 2,318 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Punjab National Party | 2,152 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Jamhoori Wattan Party | 2,054 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pakistan Tehrek-e-Inqalab | 1,670 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Sunni Tehreek | 1,501 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Azad Pakistan Party | 1,492 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pakistan Muhafiz Party | 1,480 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pak Muslim Alliance | 874 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pakistan Ittehad Tehreek | 235 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pakistan Gharib Party | 215 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Markazi Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan FK | 197 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pakistan Aman Party | 181 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pakistan Qaumi Party | 99 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pakistan Qaumi League | 72 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pakistan Freedom Party | 9 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Independents | 3,826,490 | 11.04 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Vacant | 1 | – | – | 1 | ||||
| Total | 34,668,910 | 100.00 | 272 | 60 | 10 | 342 | ||
| Valid votes | 34,668,910 | 96.86 | ||||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 1,124,093 | 3.14 | ||||||
| Total votes | 35,793,003 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 80,724,153 | 44.34 | ||||||
| Source:Gallup Pakistan,ECP | ||||||||
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | ||||||||
| Pakistan Muslim League (N) | 5,597,569 | 27.05 | 107 | |||||
| Pakistan Peoples Party | 5,565,743 | 26.89 | 81 | |||||
| Pakistan Muslim League (Q) | 5,837,922 | 28.21 | 69 | |||||
| Others | 430,147 | 2.08 | 5 | |||||
| Independents | 3,264,061 | 15.77 | 34 | |||||
| Total | 20,695,442 | 100.00 | 296 | |||||
| Source:Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) | ||||||||
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | ||||||||
| Pakistan Peoples Party | 3,597,275 | 42.26 | 70 | |||||
| Muttahida Qaumi Movement | 2,592,505 | 30.46 | 39 | |||||
| Pakistan Muslim League (Q) | 1,098,754 | 12.91 | 9 | |||||
| Pakistan Muslim League (F) | 533,385 | 6.27 | 2 | |||||
| Others | 690,438 | 8.11 | 10 | |||||
| Total | 8,512,357 | 100.00 | 130 | |||||
| Source:Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) | ||||||||
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | ||||||||
| Awami National Party | 578,405 | 16.94 | 31 | |||||
| Pakistan Peoples Party | 563,057 | 16.49 | 17 | |||||
| Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal | 500,479 | 14.66 | 10 | |||||
| Others | 943,924 | 27.65 | 16 | |||||
| Independents | 828,317 | 24.26 | 22 | |||||
| Total | 3,414,182 | 100.00 | 96 | |||||
| Source:Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) | ||||||||
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | ||||||||
| Pakistan Muslim League (Q) | 437,719 | 33.05 | 16 | |||||
| Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal | 193,876 | 14.64 | 7 | |||||
| Pakistan Peoples Party | 165,837 | 12.52 | 7 | |||||
| Others | 177,235 | 13.38 | 8 | |||||
| Independents | 349,655 | 26.40 | 12 | |||||
| Total | 1,324,322 | 100.00 | 50 | |||||
| Source:Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) | ||||||||
By-elections for 28 seats (23 provincial and 5 national) were delayed numerous times and were being contested, among others, byNawaz Sharif (who initially stated he had withdrawn, but then appeared to be contesting the election nonetheless;[36] his brotherShehbaz Sharif will also run in the by-elections)[37] andAsif Ali Zardari.[38][39]
The by-elections had originally planned for 3 June 2008, then postponed to 18 June 2008; a further planned postponement to 18 August 2008 due to security reasons met with large-scale opposition, leading to a rescheduling at the time to 26 June 2008.[40][41] PPP announced it would not run in the by-elections which prominent leaders of the PML-N would contest.[42][43] On 23 June 2008 Sharif was again banned from the election due to his earlier court conviction,[44] leading theSupreme Court on 25 June 2008 to postpone the by-election for Sharif's seat until after appeal deliberations which begin on 30 June 2008 are concluded.[45] By-elections for the other seats were held as planned on 26 June 2008.[46]
59 candidates contested the five national seats, while the 282 candidates contesting the provincial seats were divided as follow:[47]
Unofficial results showed that PML-N had won three national seats and PPP the other two; of the provincial seats, PML-N won eight, PPP seven, theAwami National Party two andindependents six.[48] Turnout was reportedly low.[49]
| Party/Alliance | Total Seats | Voter turnout |
|---|---|---|
| In government | 342 | 44.10% |
| Parties | ||
| PPP | 119 | 30.79% |
| PML(Q) | 50 | 23.12% |
| MQM | 25 | 7.43% |
| ANP | 13 | 2.03% |
| JUI(F) | 6 | 2.2% |
| Total | 213 | 65.57% |
Due to a common mistrust onPervez Musharraf, thePML(N) agreed to form acoalition government after succeeding with anagreement reached in March 2008. ThePPP appointedYousaf Raza Gillani asPrime Minister over the populistAmin Fahim. After taking theoath and appointing acabinet, Prime MinisterGillani worked toward consolidating the power to weakenedPervez Musharraf.
ThePML(N) on the other hand consistently worked towards building efforts to lead a successfulmovement to impeachPresidentPervez Musharraf. Supported byMQM andANP,Asif Zardari wasendorsed to thepresidency in 2008. ThePML(N) left thecoalition government over the multiple disagreement on the issue of restoring of deposedjudiciary,national amnesty, thenationalization and thepolicies in regards to thewar on terror. ThePML(N) also had clash over thesocialist ideas and centralizing ofleftist forces on a common ground. In 2009, Prime MinisterGillani approved thePML(N) departure and instead named a newcabinet with a new and more prudentleftist alliance consisting ofMQM,ANP,JUI(F).
In December 2010 theMQM withdrew from the ruling coalition, including its 2 cabinet ministers Babar Ghauri, the ports and shipping minister and Farooq Sattar, minister for overseas Pakistanis. Amongst their reasons for withdrawing were corruption, law and order and rising prices.[50] However, theMQM returned to the government in matter of weeks with thePML(Q) also joining theCoalition government in 2012.
The election for Prime Minister took place on 24 March 2008.[51]
| ←August 2004 | 24 March 2008 | 2012→ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Party | Votes Obtained | |
| Required majority → | 172 out of 342 | ||
| Yusuf Raza Gillani | PPP | 264 Y | |
| Parvez Elahi | PML(Q) | 42 N | |
| Abstentions | <36 | ||
| General elections | |
|---|---|
| Provincial elections | |
| Referendums | |
| By-elections | |
| |
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