Description of Electoral System:

(courtesy of IFES election guide)

The General is elected by parliament to serve a 5-year term. In the Senate 100 members are elected by indirect vote to serve 4-year terms. In the National Assembly 342 members are elected by direct popular vote to serve 4-year terms. 60 seats represent women; 10 seats represent minorities.

Electoral Systems Snapshot

(Courtesy of International IDEA)

*Click on links for definitions

WANT MORE ELECTION RELATED STATS FOR PAKISTAN? Go to "election databases" on the left-hand menu of this page OR comparative data on the right-hand menu and choose your area of interest.

Most Recent Elections

(courtesy of wikipedia)

A general election was held in Pakistan on February 18, 2008, after being postponed from 8 January 2008, the original date to elect members of the National Assembly of Pakistan, the lower house of the Majlis-e-Shoora (the nation's parliament). Pakistan's two main opposition parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML (N)) won the majority of seats in the election, although the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML (Q)) actually was second in the popular vote. The PPP and PML (N) are expected to form the new government.

On 3 November 2007, President and then-Chief of the Army Staff Pervez Musharraf called a state of emergency. Elections were initially postponed indefinitely; however, it was later stated they would be held as planned. On 8 November 2007 Musharraf announced that the election would be held by 15 February 2008, later calling for the election date to be on or before 9 January 2008. Even later, he suggested 8 January 2008 as the election date. Following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the Election Commission announced after a meeting in Islamabad that a January 8 vote was no longer possible and the election would take place on 18 February.