034. Pakistan Elections - 2013

Elections are a very important part of a democratic process, and interesting too. We Pakistanis generally take a lot of interest in heated political debates. But it is very important for us, especially the young, to understand the system and the process, so that we can develop our opinions on the foundations of solid facts and sound understanding. Otherwise false perceptions and lack of capacity to analyze the facts and figures will not help us understanding the issues related to elections. And we shall be easily carried away by crude propaganda. Briefly speaking read books and not just facebook. As a step in this direction I have published maps of the constituencies of National and Provincial Assemblies in this post. It will show the pattern of voting in different areas and show the strongholds of different parties.

Last general elections in Pakistan in 2013, were historical in the sense that the turnout was very high, as 55.02% voters cast their votes. It was actually highest in our recent history. Only in 1970 turnout surpassed it, when 63.1% participated in the polling. But that percentage was for both the wings. I do not know what it was for the West Pakistan. I found the following data on the website of tribune.com.pk, regarding the turnout in the elections since 1988.

Year	Turnout (%)
1988	43.07
1990	45.46
1993	40.28
1997	35.42
2002	41.08
2008	44.23
2013	55.02

On the same website a long list of 111 parties and the votes obtained by them is given. But I selected only top 28 parties that won at least one seat. So it goes as under:

Name of Political Parties	No. of Seats	Total Votes	%
Pakistan Muslim League (N)	125	14,794,188	32.98
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf	27	7,563,504	16.86
Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians	31	6,822,958	15.21
Independent	32	5,773,494	12.87
Muttahidda Qaumi Movement	18	2,422,656	5.40
Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam (F)	10	1,454,907	3.24
Pakistan Muslim League	2	1,405,493	3.13
Pakistan Muslim League (F)	5	1,007,761	2.25
Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan	3	949,394	2.12
Awami National Party	1	450,561	1.00
MUTAHIDA DEENI MAHAZ		359,589	0.80
Pukhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party	3	211,989	0.47
National Peoples Party	2	196,828	0.44
Pakistan Muslim League(Z)	1	126,504	0.28
Bahawalpur National Awami Party		113,156	0.25
Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Nazryati Pakistan		102,417	0.23
Awami Muslim League Pakistan	1	93,051	0.21
Sindh United Party		82,728	0.18
Tehreek-e-Tahaffuze Pakistan		73,503	0.16
Awami Jamhuri Ittehad Pakistan	1	71,175	0.16
Pakistan Muslim League (J)		70,247	0.16
Jamiat Ulma-e-Pakistan (Noorani)		68,150	0.15
Balochistan National Party	1	64,070	0.14
National Party	1	61,171	0.14
All Pakistan Muslim League	1	54,617	0.12
Pakistan National Muslim League		51,995	0.12
Pakistan Peoples Party (Shaheed Bhutto)		49,926	0.11
Qaumi Watan Party (Sherpao)	1	46,829	0.10
All Others		278,540
Total	266	44,859,313

These are statistics of 266 constituencies, while the total number of National Assembly is 272.  Elections were not held or results were withheld due to some reasons. Following is the map of the constituency of the National Assembly. I made this map taking help from a map given on the website of of the Election Commission of Pakistan in pdf format. However, it is not 100% clear and especially in the urban areas it is difficult to ascertain accurate boundaries of constituencies. I faced problems particularly in the cities of Gujranwala and Multan. 

Map showing the party positions in the elections for the National Assembly in 2013. 

(Click the map for the larger image.)

Punjab is the largest province of Pakistan and its assembly with 297 directly elected members is the biggest elected house of Pakistan. The following map is also based on the map of ECP. But in this map too, I could not clearly find the boundaries of PP 77 (Jhang City) and PP 155 (Ichhra, Lahore). 

Map showing the party positions in the elections for the Provincial  Assembly of Punjab in 2013. (Click the map for the larger image.)

Below is the map of the constituencies of the Sindh Assembly, showing the results of the elections in 2013. I could not locate the PS 97.

Map showing the party positions in the elections for the Provincial  Assembly of Sindh in 2013. (Click the map for the larger image.)

Following is the map of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, showing constituencies of the provincial assembly of this province. Fortunately boundaries of all the constituencies are clear in this map. 

Map showing the party positions in the elections for the Provincial  Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2013. (Click the map for the larger image.)

According to area, Balochistan is Pakistan's biggest province. Following is the map of Balochistan, showing constituencies of the provincial assembly of this province.

Map showing the party positions in the elections for the Provincial  Assembly of Balochistan  in 2013. (Click the map for the larger image.)

So that is it. Five maps showing the results of elections in 2013. I am sure you will find them useful and interesting. I shall welcome any inaccuracy pointed out, or any suggestion to improve them. 

Tariq Amir

29 September, 2014.

Doha - Qatar