MCQ’s TOPIC:

ELECTION IN PAKISTAN
SUBMITTED BY:
Javeria shams
Roll no: 1446
Dept: Pol Science
Semester: 5th

SUBMITTED TO:
Prof Shafaq Aftab Lecturer
Of Political Parties.
 ELECTIONS IN PAKISTAN
Since its establishment in 1947, Pakistan has had an asymmetric federal
government and is a federal parliamentary democratic republic. At the national
level, the people of Pakistan elect a bicameral legislature, the Parliament of
Pakistan. The parliament consists of a lower house called the National Assembly,
which is elected directly, and an upper house called the Senate, whose members
are chosen by elected provincial legislators. The head of government, the Prime
Minister, is elected by the majority members of the National Assembly and
the head of state (and figurehead), the President, is elected by the Electoral
College, which consists of both houses of Parliament together with the four
provincial assemblies. In addition to the national parliament and the provincial
assemblies, Pakistan also has more than five thousand elected local governments.

The Election Commission of Pakistan, a constitutionally-established institution

chaired by an appointed and designated Chief Election Commissioner, supervises
the general elections. The Pakistan Constitution defines (to a basic extent) how
general elections are held in Part VIII, Chapter 2 and various amendments.
A multi-party system is in effect, with the National Assembly consisting of 342
seats and the Senate consisting of 100 seats (after ex-FATA merger) elected from
the four provinces. The Constitution dictates that the general elections be held
every five years when the National Assembly has completed its term or has been
dissolved and that the Senatorial elections be held to elect members for terms of
six years. By law, general elections must be held within two months of the
National Assembly completing its term.

Electoral system:
In law and Constitution:
The Constitution of Pakistan more broadly and briefly defines how general
elections (to a basic extent) are conducted, giving the time of elections, and the
framework under which the elections are to be conducted, in Article 222-226 in
chapter 2:
 1. No Person shall, at the same time, be a member of, both houses (National
Assembly and Senate) or a House and a Provincial Assemblies.
2. When the National Assembly or a Provincial Assembly is dissolved, a
general election to the Assembly shall be held within a period of ninety
days after the dissolution, and the results of the election shall be declared
not later than fourteen days after the conclusion of the polls.
A general election to the National Assembly or a Provincial Assembly shall be held
within a period of sixty days immediately following the day on which the term of
the Assembly is due to expire, unless the Assembly has been sooner dissolved,
and the results of the election shall be declared not later than fourteen days
before that day.

Election Commission of Pakistan:

Established in 1956, the Election Commission of Pakistan holds the purpose of
elections to houses of Parliament, four provincial assemblies and for election of
such other public offices as may be specified by law or until such law is made by
the Parliament.[17] The Election Commission is constituted with comprising
the Chief Election Commissioner as its chairman (who is a judge or retired judge
of
the Supreme Court or a senior civil servant who has served at least 20 years or
has retired in BPS-22 or is a technocrat) [18] and four appointed members from
each four provinces, each of whom is a judge of the four high courts of the four
provinces; all appointed by the president by constitution.

Chief Election Commissioner:

The Chief Election Commissioner is appointed by the president, in his/her
discretion, for a term of 3 years. The Constitution grants the commissioner the
security of tenure and financial autonomy.

LEVELS OF ELECTIONS:
Parliamentary elections:
Pakistan has a parliamentary system in which,
the executive and legislature are elected directly by public voting
in constituencies on first-past-the-post system through a secret ballot.
Article 222–229 of the Constitution of Pakistan forbids the candidate from
the membership of National Assembly and the provincial assemblies
simultaneously. In direct elections, a candidate who obtains the highest
number of votes in a constituency, is declared elected as a member of
National Assembly or a provincial assembly.

Assembly’s elections:
The seats in the National Assembly are allocated to each of four provinces,
the FATA and the federal capital on the basis of population in accordance
with the last officially published census. Members to the seats reserved for
women and non-Muslims, are elected in accordance with the law through
proportional representation system of political partys' lists of candidates on
the basis of total number of general seats secured by each political party in
the National Assembly or a provincial assembly. The National Assembly
has 342 seats, usually elected for five year terms; however, if the National
Assembly is dissolved, a general elections must be called within ninety
days, according to the constitution.

Senate elections:
The Senate consists of 104 members, of whom 14 members are elected by
each provincial assembly, eight members are elected from FATA by
members of National Assembly from these areas, two members (one
woman and one technocrat) are elected from the federal capital also by
members of National Assembly; four women and four technocrats are
elected by members of each provincial assembly. One seat in the Senate is
reserved for minorities in each province.

The term of the first group of the senators, who shall retire after completion
of first 3 years of the Senate, is determined by drawing of lots by the Chief
Election Commission.

Presidential elections:
The president of Pakistan is elected through presidential elections. In
an indirect election, with the winner being determined by votes casts by the
electors of the Electoral College. The Electoral College is composed of
elected senators, members of the National Assembly and provincial
assemblies. The president is a ceremonial post, head of state, and merely
a figurehead with the executive powers granted to prime minister, by the
Constitution. The Constitution grants both men and women the right to run
for presidency. However it states that a presidential candidate must be
a Muslim and not less than 45 years of age. The president is elected for a
term of 5 years.

Local government elections:

In order to decentralize administrative and financial authority to be
accountable to Local Governments, for good governance, effective delivery
of services and transparent decision making through institutionalized
participation of the people at grassroots level, elections to the local
government institutions are held after every four years on nonparty basis by
the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan.
Members of Union Council including Union Administrator and Vice Union
Administrator are elected through direct elections based on adult franchise
and on the basis of joint electorate. However, for the election to the
reserved seats for Women in Zila council proportionately divided among
Tehsils or Towns shall be all members of the Union Councils in a Tehsil or
Town. It is the responsibility of the Chief Election Commissioner to organize
and conduct these elections.

METHODS OF VOTING QUALIFICATION:

A person who is a citizen of Pakistan, is enrolled as a voter in any electoral
roll under the Electoral Rolls Act 1974 and in case of National/Provincial
Assemblies is not less than 25 years of age and in case of Senate not less
than 30 years of age, is of good character and is not commonly known as
one who violates Islamic injunctions, has adequate knowledge of Islamic
teachings and practices, obligatory duties prescribed by Islam as well as
abstains from major sin, is sagacious, righteous and non-profligate, honest
and ameen, has not been convicted for a crime involving moral turpitude or
for giving false evidence, and has not, after establishment of Pakistan,
worked against the integrity of the country or opposed the ideology of
Pakistan and is graduate, can contest the elections and become a member
of the Parliament or a Provincial Assembly.
Voter qualification:
A person, who is a citizen of Pakistan, is not less than 18 years of age on
the first day of January of the year in which the rolls are prepared or
revised, is not declared by a competent court to be of un-sound mind and is
or is deemed to be a resident of an electoral area, can get their selves
enrolled as a voter in that electoral area. The citizens registered on the
electoral rolls are only eligible to cast their votes.