2024 Balochistan provincial election
8 February 2024
51 out of 65 seats in the Balochistan Assembly[lower-alpha 1]
33 seats needed for a majority
Registered5,371,947
 
Leader Sadiq Sanjrani Maulana Abdul Wasey Akhtar Mengal
Party BAP JUI (F) BNP-M
Leader since 6 November 2023 - 30 December 2007
Leader's seat Chagai Killa Saifullah Khuzdar-III
Last election 24.44%, 24 seats Did not contest[lower-alpha 2] 9.04%, 10 seats
Seats needed Increase 9 Steady Increase 23
Map of Balochistan with Provincial Assembly constituencies
Incumbent Chief Minister

Abdul Quddus Bizenjo
BAP


Provincial elections are scheduled to be held in Balochistan on 8 February 2024 to elect a new provincial legislature. On 5 August 2023, after the approval of the results of the 2023 digital census by the Council of Common Interests headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, elections have been delayed for several months, as new delimitations will be published on 14 December 2023.[1][2] On 2 November 2023, the Election Commission of Pakistan announced, in agreement with the President of Pakistan, Arif Alvi, that the elections will be held on 8 February 2024.[3] This election will be held concurrently with nationwide general elections and other provincial elections.

Background

In the 2018 election, the newly formed Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), created by former members of Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q) and Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N), emerged as the largest party in the province by winning 24 seats.[4]

The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and the Balochistan National Party (Mengal) (BNP-M) became the second and third largest parties by securing 10 seats each.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won 7 seats and emerged as the fourth largest party in the province for the very first time.

The PML(N), the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) and the National Party faced their worst ever defeats, as they won one, one, and zero seats, respectively.

Since no party got the majority, the BAP, PTI, Awami National Party (ANP) and Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) formed a coalition government.[5]

On 26 September 2021, a political crisis occurred in the province after a motion of a no-confidence motion was tabled against Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani.[6] Alyani resigned on 24 October 2021.[7]

Abdul Quddus Bizenjo became the new Chief Minister on 29 October 2021.[8]

On 12 August 2023, the Assembly was dissolved by Governor Abdul Wali Kakar on Bizenjo's advice.[9]

Ban on PTI from contesting as a party

On 22 December 2023, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decided against letting the PTI retain its electoral symbol, arguing that the party had failed to hold intra-party elections. On 22 December, the PTI approached the Peshawar High Court (PHC) against the ECP's order and hence, a single-member bench suspended the ECP's order until 9 January 2024. On 30 December 2023, the ECP filed a review application within the PHC, and days later, a two-member bench withdrew the suspension order as it heard the case. However, on 10 January 2024, the two-member bench had declared the ECP's order to be "illegal, without any lawful authority, and of no legal effect. On 11 January, the ECP challenged this ruling in the Supreme Court, and on 13 January, a three-member bench ruled in favor of the ECP and stripped the PTI of its electoral symbol. As a consequence of this ruling, the PTI could not allot party tickets to any of its candidates. Therefore, all candidates of the party will be listed as independent candidates and each will have a different electoral symbol.[10]

Schedule

The schedule of the election was announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan on 15 December 2023.[11]

Sr no Poll Event Schedule
1 Public Notice Issued by the Returning Officers 19 December 2023
2 Dates of filing Nomination papers with the Returning Officers by the candidates 20 December 2023 to 24 December 2023
3 Publication of names of the nominated candidates. 24 December 2023
4 Last date of scrutiny of nomination papers by the Returning Officer 25 December 2023 to 30 December 2023
5 Last date of filing appeals against decisions of the Returning Officer rejecting/accepting nomination papers. 3 January 2024
6 Last date for deciding of appeals by the Appellate Tribunal 10 January 2024
7 Publication of revised list of candidates 11 January 2024
8 Last date of withdrawal of candidate and publication of revised list of candidates 12 January 2024
9 Allotment of election symbol to contesting candidates 13 January 2024
10 Date of Polling and Counting of Votes 8 February 2024

Electoral system

The 65 seats of the Balochistan Assembly consist of 51 general seats, whose members are elected by the first-past-the-postvoting system through single-member constituencies. 11 seats are reserved for women and 3 seats are reserved for non-Muslims. The members on these seats are elected through proportional representation based on the total number of general seats secured by each political party.

Results

Result by Party

Party Popular vote Seats
General Reserved Total +/−
Votes % ±pp Contested Won Women Non-Muslims
Balochistan Awami Party
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
Balochistan National Party (Mengal)
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F)
Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party
National Party
Balochistan National Party (Awami)
Pakistan Peoples Party
Pakistan Muslim League (N)
Hazara Democratic Party
Awami National Party
Jamhoori Wattan Party
Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan
Independents
Others
Total 100% 51 11 3 65
Valid votes
Invalid votes
Votes cast/ turnout
Abstentions
Registered voters 5,371,947

Division-wise results

Division Total seats BAP JUI(F) BNP(M) PTI ANP BNP(A) HDP PKMAP JWP PML(N)
Zhob 6
Sibi 4
Nasirabad 7
Rakhshan 4
Kalat 9
Makran 7
Quetta 14
Total 51

District-wise results

Division District Total seats BAP JUI(F) BNP(M) PTI ANP BNP(A) HDP PKMAP JWP PML(N)
Zhob Sherani 1
Zhob 1
Killa Saifullah 1
Musakhail 1
Barkhan
Loralai 1
Duki 1
Sibi Ziarat 1
Harnai
Sibi 1
Kohlu 1
Dera Bugti 1
Nasirabad Jhal Magsi 1
Kachhi 1
Nasirabad 2
Sohbatpur 1
Jaffarabad 1
Usta Muhammad 1
Kalat Khuzdar 3
Hub 1
Lasbela 1
Awaran 1
Makran Gwadar 1
Kech 4
Panjgur 2
Rakhshan Washuk 1
Chagai 1
Kharan 1
Nushki 1
Kalat Surab 1
Kalat 1
Mastung 1
Quetta Quetta 9
Pishin 3
Killa Abdullah 1
Chaman 1
Total 51

Constituency-wise results

District Constituency Winner Runner Up Margin Turnout

%

No. Name Candidate Party Votes % Candidate Party Votes %
Sherani 1 Sherani-Cum-Zhob
Zhob 2 Zhob
Killa Saifullah 3 Killa Saifullah
Musakhel-Barkhan 4 Musakhel-cum-Barkhan
Loralai 5 Loralai
Duki 6 Duki
Ziarat-Harnai 7 Ziarat cum Harnai
Sibi 8 Sibi
Kohlu 9 Kohlu
Dera Bugti 10 Dera Bugti
Jhal Magsi 11 Jhal Magsi
Kachhi 12 Kachhi
Nasirabad 13 Nasirabad-I
14 Nasirabad-II
Sohbatpur 15 Sohbatpur
Jafarabad 16 Jafarabad
Usta Muhammad 17 Usta Muhammad
Khuzdar 18 Khuzdar-I
19 Khuzdar-II
20 Khuzdar-III
Hub 21 Hub
Lasbela 22 Lasbela
Awaran 23 Awaran
Gwadar 24 Gwadar
Kech 25 Kech-I
26 Kech-II
27 Kech-III
28 Kech-IV
Panjgur 29 Panjgur-I
30 Panjgur-II
Washuk 31 Washuk
Chagai 32 Chagai
Kharan 33 Kharan
Nushki 34 Nushki
Surab 35 Surab
Kalat 36 Kalat
Mastung 37 Mastung
Quetta 38 Quetta-I
39 Quetta-II
40 Quetta-III
41 Quetta-IV
42 Quetta-V
43 Quetta-VI
44 Quetta-VII
45 Quetta-VIII
46 Quetta-IX
Pishin 47 Pishin-I
48 Pishin-II
49 Pishin-II
Killa Abdullah 50 Killa Abdullah
Chaman 51 Chaman

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 11 seats are reserved for Women and 3 are reserved for Non-Muslims filled through Proportional representation
  2. ↑ JUI (F) did not contest the 2018 elections, as they were part of an electoral alliance called Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal

References

  1. ↑ "Pakistan's general election may be delayed by new census". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-08-06.
  2. ↑ Sadozai, Irfan (2023-08-17). "Election delay all but certain as ECP decides to go for fresh delimitation". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  3. ↑ Sadozai, Irfan; Guramani, Nadir; Bhatti, Haseeb; Momand, Abdullah (2023-11-02). "President, ECP agree on holding elections on Feb 8". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
  4. ↑ Shah, Syed Ali (2018-12-31). "2018, a troubled year for Balochistan's politics". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  5. ↑ Dawn.com (2018-07-31). "BAP and PTI to form Balochistan government together". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  6. ↑ Nihad, Ghalib (2021-09-14). "Opposition submits no-confidence motion against Balochistan CM". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  7. ↑ Nihad, Dawn com | Ghalib (2021-10-24). "Jam Kamal Khan steps down as Balochistan CM". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  8. ↑ "Bizenjo emerges as candidate for CM's slot". The Express Tribune. 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  9. ↑ Zehri, Abdullah (2023-08-12). "Balochistan Assembly dissolved as governor approves CM Bizenjo's summary". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  10. ↑ Bhatti, Haseeb (2024-01-13). "PTI bat-tered, loses iconic electoral symbol as SC restores ECP order". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  11. ↑ Sadozai, Irfan (2023-12-15). "ECP issues election schedule for Feb 8 general polls". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.