At stake in this election:

• 342 seats in the National Assembly

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Pervez MUSHARRAF *
• Head of Government: Interim Prime Minister Mohammadmian SOOMRO
• Assembly: Pakistan has a bicameral Parliament (Majlis-e-Shoora) consisting of the Senate with 100 seats and the National Assembly with 342 seats.

* The Electoral College consists of members of the Senate, National Assembly and the Provincial Assemblies.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by an electoral college to serve a 5-year term.
• Interim Prime Minister is elected by parliament.
• In the Senate 100 members are elected by indirect vote to serve 6-year terms*. In the National Assembly 342 members are elected by party-list system with proportional distribution of seats to serve 5-year terms.**

* Senate members are indirectly elected by the provincial assemblies and the territories

Population and Registered Voters:

• Population: 163,096,985 (2008)
• Registered Voters: 79,934,801 (2008)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 79,177,990 (2008)

·         Is Pakistan a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Pakistan ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (12 March 1996)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 76 (National Assembly) following the 2008 elections; 8 (Senate) following the 2006 elections

·         Human Development Index Position: 147 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: High (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Pakistan a signatory to CRPD: Yes (25 September 2008)

·         Has Pakistan ratified CRPD: Yes (5 July 2011)

·         Population with a disability: 24,464,547 (est.)