At Stake in this Election:

• All 342 seats in the Pakistani National Assembly

Provincial assembly elections for Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan will occur concurrently.

Government Structure:

• Chief of State: President Arif ALVI (since 9 September 2018)
• Head of Government: Interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq KAKAR (since 14 August 2023)
• Assembly: bicameral Parliament (مجلسِ شوریٰ) with a 100-seat Senate (ایوانِ بالا) and a 342-seat National Assembly (ایوانِ زیریں)

Electoral System:

• The President is indirectly elected by an electoral college (members of the Senate, National Assembly, and provincial assemblies) and may serve up to 2 consecutive 5-year terms.
• The Prime Minister is indirectly elected by the National Assembly.
• In the National Assembly, all 342 members are directly elected and serve 5-year terms. 272 members are elected by plurality vote in single-seat constituencies. An additional 60 seats are reserved for women and 10 are reserved for non-Muslims, and these seats are allocated by proportional representation.

Last Election:

In the 2018 National Assembly election, the PTI won the largest share of seats (149), followed by the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (83) and ten other parties. Voter turnout was 50%.

Information for Voters:

General Election 2024 video series (available in Urdu, English, Pashto, Punjabi, Sindhi, and Balochi)

New/Unique in this Election:

In January 2024, the Supreme Court struck down a law that had permanently banned those with prior convictions from running for office; the ban will only last 5 years. This change has allowed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League to enter the race. However, former Prime Minister Imran Khan of the PTI will not participate due to his recent convictions. Additionally, the Election Commission has instructed candidates from the PTI party to use individually selected ballot symbols rather than the party’s widely recognized cricket bat symbol.

Key Deadlines:

• Candidate filing deadline: 24 December 2023
• Voter registration deadline: 28 October 2023

Main Parties in this Election:

• Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf / پاکستان تحريکِ انصاف (PTI)
  • Leader: Imran KHAN
  • Seats won in last election: 149 out of 342
• Pakistan Muslim League (N) / پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ن) PML (N)
  • Leader: Shehbaz SHARIF
  • Seats won in last election: 83 out of 342
• Pakistan People’s Party / پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی (PPP)
  • Leader: Bilawal BHUTTO Zardari
  • Seats won in last election: 54 out of 342

Population and Registered Voters:

• Population: 235,824,860 (2022 est.)
• Registered Voters: 128,585,760 (2024)

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 116,863,980 (2022 est.)
• CEDAW Status: Ratified (by accession) 12 March 1996
• Gender Quota: 60 out of 342 seats are reserved for women in the National Assembly. Parties create separate lists for these reserved seats, and seats are allocated based on the proportion of non-reserved seats won in the general election.
• Female Candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 70 out of 342 (20.5%) in the National Assembly and 19 out of 100 (19%) in the Senate
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 0.544, Low, Rank 161 (2021)
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: 59.7

Disability Data:

• CRPD Status: Signed 25 September 2008, Ratified 5 July 2011
• Projected population with a disability: 37,731,978 (2022 est.)

IFES Resources:

• IFES Election Snapshot
• Does IFES have a presence in Pakistan: Yes, office
• Election Access: Yes
• Election Judgements: Yes, 6 judgements and 13 resources