Fairness, Diversity, and Inclusion: Unpacking Pakistan’s 2024 Elections Amidst Political Turmoil
Since the February 2024 general elections, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) has been embroiled in a legal and political battle to maintain its representation, particularly regarding reserved seats for women and minorities, which are crucial for the balance of power in Pakistan’s National Assembly. Out of 266 general seats, 70 seats are reserved—60 for women and 10 for minorities. Initially, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) denied PTI its expected quota of these seats, leading to months of legal challenges.
After a rejection by the Peshawar High Court, the PTI and its coalition partner, the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), took the case to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which ruled in their favor on July 12, 2024. This landmark decision restored PTI’s right to the reserved seats, marking a major victory. The Supreme Court’s verdict, which came from an 8-5 majority ruling, also criticized the ECP for its controversial role in the election process, accusing it of being biased against the PTI. The Court ordered the party to submit names for its reserved seats, giving PTI a stronger position in parliament.
The verdict has important political ramifications, allowing the PTI to become the largest political party in the National Assembly. However, the ruling coalition still seeks to ban the PTI, citing charges against its leader, Imran Khan, which adds another layer of tension to the already fragile political landscape.
An international news site, CFR, analyzed Pakistan’s 2024 election process and stated that the military played a dominant role, making it one of the most visibly unfair elections. Imran Khan, a popular leader, was imprisoned, and his party’s competitiveness was reduced by various measures, including the removal of its symbol from the ballot. Meanwhile, Nawaz Sharif, who had been in exile with criminal charges, saw his charges dropped, likely due to his party’s cooperation with the military. Election day itself was marked by significant chaos, compounded by an unexpected shutdown of mobile and internet services. These suspensions further disadvantaged Khan’s party, as its younger supporters, reliant on mobile platforms for election-related activities, were hindered from fully participating. This exacerbated concerns about the transparency and fairness of the election.
In response to the suspension of mobile services, I filed an RTI asking PTA for the reasoning behind this act. PTA responded that the interior ministry was responsible. When I approached the interior ministry, they said that this information was confidential. Pakistan Information Commission later closed my appeal illegally, adding to the controversy. ( link of the news related to this )
The 2024 General Election in Pakistan was deemed less fair than the previous two elections, scoring 49% in fairness, compared to 52% in 2018 and 57% in 2013, according to a report by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT). Key issues affecting the election’s quality included delayed scheduling, political repression, and security concerns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Election day was marred by the suspension of mobile and internet services, impacting the Election Management System (EMS) and public participation. The delay in announcing provisional results and discrepancies between Form-45 and Form-47 raised questions about the election’s credibility. PILDAT suggested two paths to resolve these issues: allowing Election Tribunals to handle disputes or forming a Commission of Inquiry, similar to the one formed after the 2013 elections, to address broader concerns and ensure political stability.
Despite these challenges, the Aurat Foundation, a prominent women’s rights organization in Pakistan, highlighted that many political parties failed to comply with Section 206 of the Elections Act 2017, which mandates at least five percent of general seats be allocated to women candidates in the National and Provincial Assemblies. Their analysis ahead of the 2024 general elections revealed the following:
Violation of Election Provision: Several political parties did not meet the five percent requirement for nominating women on general seats, despite submitting affidavits claiming compliance
Party-wise Compliance:
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- Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM): Surpassed the requirement, nominating 9.6% women candidates for the National Assembly.
- Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N): Also exceeded the benchmark, with 7.8% women candidates.
- Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP): Nominated only 4.5% women, falling short of the requirement.
- Jamaat-e-Islami (JI): Fielded 4.4% women candidates.
- Awami National Party (ANP): Allocated 3.3% of its general seats to women.
- Balochistan National Party (BNP) and Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F): Did not field any female candidates for the National Assembly.
Provincial Assembly Participation: Many parties also failed to meet the legal requirement for nominating women candidates at the provincial level.
False Declarations: The Aurat Foundation expressed concern that these actions amounted to false declarations, calling on the Election Commission to enforce the rules effectively.
According to Gallup, Pakistan’s Election Day and Post-Election Survey for 2024, there was a significant rise in youth voter turnout compared to previous years, showing an increase of 11% from 2018 and 22% from 2013. PTI emerged as the most popular party among first-time voters and relatively educated segments, garnering 31% of the vote, followed by PML-N with 24%. A generational divide in voter preferences was also noted, with PML-N leading among voters aged 50+. The survey highlighted an increased demand for public services, with 29% more voters in 2024 advising the new government to focus on infrastructure, education, health, and employment.
In the 2024 general elections, only 12 women from four political parties were elected to the National Assembly after defeating strong opponents. Among them, five are PTI-supported independents, four belong to PML-N, two to PPP, and one to MQM. For the first time, Maryam Nawaz, along with Aneeqa Bhatti, Ayesha Jutt, and Anbar Niazi, took their seats in the National Assembly.
While the elections marked progress for youth and women’s participation, the representation of marginalized communities remained a concern. No political party, including the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), was successful in issuing a single ticket among thousands of vacancies for the National and Provincial Assemblies to a candidate from the transgender community. Shahzadi Rai, a transgender councilor based in Karachi, confirmed, “No party gave an election ticket to a transgender candidate from any constituency. I was expecting at least the PPP to consider including our community, but they too turned a blind eye.”
Under Article 51(4) of the Constitution, ten seats are reserved for non-Muslims in the National Assembly. While minorities in Pakistan have the equal right to contest general seats, most political parties hesitate to allot them tickets. Additionally, there is no clear mechanism for contesting reserved seats, as nominations are based on the general seats secured by parties. This situation exacerbates concerns among minority communities, as candidates on reserved seats are not directly accountable to voters, contributing to a lack of meaningful representation for these groups in the political process.
According to Human Rights Watch, estimates of people living with disabilities in Pakistan vary from 3.3 million to 27 million, yet none have had representation in any assembly. This lack of representation further highlights the exclusion of marginalized communities from Pakistan’s political discourse.
On August 28, 2023, Maryam Nawaz, the senior vice president of PML-N, expressed her desire to see the party allocate the maximum number of election tickets to young men and women. This aligns with her vision of empowering the younger generation and ensuring their active participation in Pakistan’s political process.
