General elections were held in Pakistan on 10 October 2002 to elect the 12th National Assembly and four Provincial Assemblies. The elections were held under the military government of Pervez Musharraf.[1] The two mainstream parties, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) had several restrictions imposed on them and their leaders Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were in exile. In order to address the restrictions, PPP created the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) under the leadership of Ameen Faheem, to contest the elections on its behalf. The PML-N meanwhile, suffering from the party's division into two factions: one that remained loyal to Sharif and were contesting the elections under the leadership of Javed Hashmi, and the other which had broken away to form the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q) under the leadership of Mian Muhammad Azhar. The emergence of the PML-Q marked the beginning of multi-party politics in the country, bringing an end to the decade-long two-party system between the PPP and PML-N.
Quick Facts All 342 seats in the National Assembly 172 seats needed for a majority, Turnout ...
Close
The newly formed PML-Q - referred to as King's party due to President Musharraf's support - won the highest number of seats in the National Assembly. Despite the absence of Benazir Bhutto, PPPP came at a close second, and actually dominated in terms of popular vote. In opposition to the liberal regime of Musharraf, Islamist parties had organised themselves into the right-wing alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) prior to elections. The MMA ended up becoming the third largest party in National Assembly. PML-N suffering from Nawaz Sharif's absence and party split, finished fourth. At the provincial level, PPPP emerged as the largest party in Sindh, PML-Q was triumphant in Punjab, whereas MMA won the most seats in NWFP and Balochistan. With help of other pro-Musharraf parties such as MQM and National Alliance, PML-Q formed a government not only in the Centre but also in all provinces besides NWFP. Since Mian Muhammad Azhar had failed to win a seat himself, PML-Q and its allies agreed on the appointment of Zafarullah Jamali as the next Prime Minister
To control the political landscape, the Musharraf-led government introduced the Political Parties Order, 2002, imposing criteria that effectively disqualified the leadership of the PPP and PML-N from participating in the elections.[2] The administrative machinery, from the police to vote counters, was reportedly aligned with state interests, suggesting widespread rigging.[2]
Journalist Zarrar Khuhro described the elections as heavily manipulated, with disenfranchisement disguised as electoral reform.[2] One controversial reform was the requirement for candidates to hold graduate degrees, a stipulation that excluded many potential candidates due to the educational standards in Pakistan.[2] However, an exception was made for religious scholars, equating madrassah certificates with graduate degrees, thereby favoring the pro-Musharraf Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal alliance and introducing a bias in candidate eligibility.[2]
These elections also saw the reduction in the minimum eligible age to be a voter, from 21 years to 18 years.[3]
In the National Assembly elections, the PPPP received the most votes but the PML-Q won the most seats, winning 126 to the PPPP's 81. At the provincial level, the MMA emerged as the largest party in Balochistan and North-West Frontier Province. The PML-N lost its stronghold of Punjab to the PML-Q, while in Sindh there was a hung parliament, with the PPP winning more seats than the National Alliance. Voter turnout was 41.8%.
Although the founder of the PML-Q Mian Muhammad Azhar was considered the most likely candidate to become Prime Minister, he failed to win a seat in the National Assembly. Instead a senior party leader Zafarullah Khan Jamali was tasked with leading the new government. Meanwhile, the MMA leader Fazal-ur-Rehman became the Leader of the Opposition.
National Assembly
More information Party, Votes ...
Party | Votes | % | Seats |
---|
Constituency | Women | Minority | Total |
---|
| Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians | 7,616,033 | 26.05 | 63 | 14 | 2 | 79 |
| Pakistan Muslim League (Q) | 7,500,797 | 25.66 | 78 | 23 | 4 | 105 |
| Pakistan Muslim League (N) | 3,409,805 | 11.66 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 19 |
| Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal | 3,335,643 | 11.41 | 45 | 12 | 2 | 59 |
| National Alliance | 1,395,398 | 4.77 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 16 |
| Muttahida Qaumi Movement | 932,166 | 3.19 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 17 |
| Pakistan Muslim League (F) | 328,923 | 1.13 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Awami National Party | 299,067 | 1.02 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistan Muslim League (J) | 283,755 | 0.97 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf | 209,514 | 0.72 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Pakistan Awami Tehreek | 202,845 | 0.69 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Balochistan National Movement | 107,355 | 0.37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistan Peoples Party (Sherpao) | 98,476 | 0.34 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party | 96,252 | 0.33 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Jamhoori Wattan Party | 96,240 | 0.33 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Pakistan Democratic Party | 83,976 | 0.29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistan Muslim League (Z) | 78,798 | 0.27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sunni Tehreek | 72,583 | 0.25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Balochistan National Party | 57,865 | 0.20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Qaumi Movement Pakistan | 54,007 | 0.18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Tehreek-e-Istiqlal | 43,400 | 0.15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistan Shia Political Party | 42,855 | 0.15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Saleem Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf | 32,958 | 0.11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistan Peoples Party (Shaheed Bhutto) | 31,208 | 0.11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pak Muslim Alliance | 22,637 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Balochistan National Democratic Party | 15,291 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kazmi Nazim-e-Mistafa | 11,728 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jamote Qaumi Movement | 6,240 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Qaumi Jamhoori Party | 6,224 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nizam-e-Mustafa Party | 5,154 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kakar Jamhoori Party Pakistan | 4,074 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mohib-e-Wattan Nowjawan Inqilabion Ki Anjuman (Mnaka) | 3,806 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hazara Qaumi Mahaz | 3,480 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pak Wattan Party | 3,097 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistan Awami Party | 2,993 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Awami Qiadat Party | 2,987 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| National People Party Worker Group | 2,515 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistan Freedom Party | 1,861 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Balochistan National Congress | 1,832 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ittehad Milli Hazara | 1,552 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Labour Party Pakistan | 1,464 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistan Mazdoor Kissan Party | 1,437 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tameer-e-Pakistan Party | 909 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tehreek Hussainia Pakistan | 616 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (Nifaz-e-Shariat) | 581 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistan Workers Party | 520 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Qaumi Inqilab Party | 496 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistan Gharib Party | 422 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Saraiki Sooba Movement Pakistan | 348 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shan-e-Pakistan Party | 276 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mohajir Ittehad Tehreek | 262 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistan Seriaki Party | 225 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shah Moosvi Awami Qiadat Party | 202 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sindh Urban-rurel Alliance | 165 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Labour Party Pakistan (Krandi) | 164 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Istiqlil Party | 151 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistan Ittehad Tehreek | 145 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistan Social Democratic Party | 105 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistan Awami Tehreek-e-Inqilab | 75 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zaheer Markazi Jamat-al-hadais | 43 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Qaumi Tahaffaz Party | 22 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Independents | 2,722,669 | 9.31 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
Total | 29,236,687 | 100.00 | 272 | 60 | 10 | 342 |
|
Valid votes | 29,236,687 | 97.42 | |
---|
Invalid/blank votes | 775,720 | 2.58 | |
---|
Total votes | 30,012,407 | 100.00 | |
---|
Registered voters/turnout | 71,866,278 | 41.76 | |
---|
Source: CLEA, National Assembly |
Close
Provincial Assemblies
More information Party, Votes ...
Party | Votes | % | Seats |
---|
General |
---|
| Pakistan Muslim League (Q) | 6,144,813 | 33.33 | 129 |
| Pakistan Peoples Party | 4,145,106 | 22.48 | 63 |
| Pakistan Muslim League (N) | 3,028,856 | 16.43 | 38 |
| Others | 2,684,000 | 14.56 | 29 |
| Independents | 2,435,199 | 13.21 | 38 |
Total | 18,437,974 | 100.00 | 297 |
|
Source: Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) |
Close
More information Party, Votes ...
Close
More information Party, Votes ...
Close
More information Party, Votes ...
Close
The election for Prime Minister took place on 21 November 2002.
More information Candidate, Party ...
Close