General elections were held in Pakistan on 11 May 2013, to elect the members of the 14th National Assembly and to the four provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistanand Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Elections were held in all four provinces, the federal capital Islamabad and in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas which is a territory of Pakistan. The remaining two territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, located in Pakistani Kashmir were ineligible to vote due to their disputed status.
Pakistan is the world's fifth largest democracy.[2] Pakistan is also the world's second largest Muslim democracy afterIndonesia.[3] The elections are noted for the first civilian transfer of power following the successful completion of a five year term by a democratically elected government.[4]The election took place in 272 constituencies. None of the parties achieved the 137 seats needed for an overall majority.[5] The Pakistan Muslim League (N), led by Nawaz Sharif, won the largest number of votes and seats but still fell thirteen seats short. This resulted in a hung parliamentwhere no party was able to command a majority in theNational Assembly.[6] This was the second consecutive general election to return a hung parliament, the first being the prior 2008 general election. Unlike in 2008, the potential for a hung parliament had this time been widely considered and predicted and both the country and politicians were better prepared for the constitutional process that would follow such a result.[7][8]
Coalition talks began immediately between the PML-N and independent candidates and lasted for eight days. By 19th May, it was announced that Nawaz Sharif had successfully formed a coalition by bringing on-board eighteen independent candidates who had won seats in their respective constituencies, five more than the minimum required to form a coalition. This paved the way for Nawaz Sharif to become the 18th Prime Minister of Pakistan.[9]
Prior to the elections, the Centre-Left PPP formed an alliance with PML(Q), while on the conservative side, the PML (N) allied with PML(F) and Sunni Tehreek. Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan led thecentrist PTI, while the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, Jamaat-e-Islami and Bahawalpur National Awami Party also contested the elections.[10][11][12][13] A total of 86.19 million residents were registered to vote.[14] Voter turnout was 55.02%, the highest in Pakistani history.[15]
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