Elections held in Pakistan(2013)

General elections were held in Pakistan on 11 May 2013 to elect the members of the 14th National
Assembly and to the four provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa. Elections were held in all four provinces, the federal capital territory of Islamabad and
in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The remaining two territories of Pakistan, the Azad
Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, were ineligible to vote due to their disputed status. The legacy of the
elections has been marred by allegations of rigging along with tampering within the
bureaucracy.[4] The secretary of the Election commission resigned and said that "historic rigging" was
seen in these elections which had been unprecedented before.[5] (see Incidents of
Rigging/Incompetence)

The FAFEN (Free and Fair Election network) raised the most serious concern, it said that on 25% of
the constituencies, 61 seats, there were more votes in boxes than registered voters, this has led to
accusations of ballot stuffing, these seats are also inclusive of the PML-N's margin of
victory.[6] FAFEN has accused the Election commission of suppressing the reports of NGOs, and a
senior FAFEN observer revealed that the polling scheme of voters was changed in 93 constituencies,
on the night before the election, which prevented voters from voting, and caused ballot stuffing.[7]

The elections were controversial because the chief election commissioner immediately conceded
failure of free and fair polls in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city of 20 million [8] The elections were
initially deemed to be free and fair, however serious irregularities have later emerged with the election
commission confirming that it did not even have the voter record of 139 constituencies (including and
beyond the PML-N's margin of victory)[9] Pakistan's chief election commissioner also resigned,
alleging extreme judicial interference in his investigations of voter fraud [10] The PML-N were declared
winners by Pakistan's largest media group, Geo, even though only 18% of the votes had been
counted [11] In one constituency, 256 of the voting bags were found to be fake and only 69 were
genuine [12] and the PTI insisted for a year on having thumb verification in just 4 constituencies, to
which the PML-N refused, this has resulted in suspicion over the role of the PML-N [13] Politicians also
became seriously concerned with the issue, Imran Khan's rally on 11 May 2014 [14] ensured that the
issue remained on the national stage and featured even more prominently. Key opposition parties
such as the PML-Q and the Shia miniority MWM joined Imran Khan in pointing out the suspicions of
the election [15][16] The Pakistan People's Party has also demanded the members of the election
commission resign [17] Other parties have not directly joined the PTI's agitation - such as the Jamaat-
e-Islami but they have complained about rigging and unite over electoral reforms [18]
Pakistan is the world's fifth largest democracy[19] and the world's second largest Muslim
democracy after Indonesia.[20] The elections are noted for the first civilian transfer of power following
the successful completion of a five-year term by a democratically elected government.[21] The election
took place in 272 constituencies, whilst a further 70 seats were awarded to parties having
been reserved for women and minority groups. None of the parties achieved the 172 seats needed
for an overall majority.[22] The Pakistan Muslim League (N), led by Nawaz Sharif, won the largest
number of votes and seats but still fell six seats short. This resulted in a hung parliament where no
party was able to command a majority in the National Assembly.[23] This was the second
consecutive general election to return a hung parliament, the first being the prior 2008 general
election. Unlike in 2008, the potential for a hung parliament had this time been widely considered and
predicted and both the country and politicians were better prepared for the constitutional processthat
would follow such a result.[24][25]

Speculations for the potential hung parliament were dismissed when the independent candidates who
had won seats in their respective constituencies joined the PML(N) which allowed party to form
a simple-majority government by bringing on-board nineteen independent candidates, thirteen more
than the minimum required to form a government. This swing ultimately resulted for Nawaz
Sharif become the new Prime Minister of Pakistan.[26][26]

Prior to the elections, the leftist PPP formed an alliance with PML(Q), while on the conservative side,
the PML (N) allied with PML(F) and Sunni Tehreek. Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan led
the centrist PTI, while the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen,Jamaat-e-Islami and Bahawalpur National
Awami Party also contested the elections.[27][28][29][30]