[ADRN Report] Pakistan’s 11th General Election: Outcomes and Implications for Democracy

Introduction

On July 25, 2018, Pakistan witnessed its 11th General Election (GE) to the National and four Provincial Assemblies.According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the overall voter turnout across the country stood at 51.7 per cent which was a drop of 3 percentage points from the 10th General Election held in May 2013 when the voter turnout was recorded as 55.02 per cent.

Through the 11th General Election held on July 25, 2018 in Pakistan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has formed Government in the Centre and the Provinces of Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and is part of the coalition Government in Balochistan while it has joined Opposition in Sindh where Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has formed Government. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz is the principal opposition party in the Centre and in Punjab.

While the PTI, unlike its counterpart parties, namely the PML-N and the PPP, has formed the Federal Government for the first time in Pakistan, the 15th National Assembly, reportedly, has as many as 41% of its members elected for the first time.