PTI chairman addressing a rally. PHOTO: QASIM USMAN/FILE
Around 112 parties contested the 2013 elections. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), however, emerged as the largest party – both in terms of the number of seats it won in the National Assembly, and the votes it bagged.
The PML-N fielded 220 candidates for 270 seats in the lower house of parliament. The party won 125 seats and secured 14,794,188 votes, according to the data gathered by the Free and Fair Elections Network (FAFEN).
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerged as the second biggest party, securing 7,563,504 votes. Imran Khan fielded 232 candidates. The party, however, only won 27 seats in the National Assembly.
Votes Polled
DESIGN: FAIZAN SETHI
With 31 seats in the National Assembly, the former ruling party – the Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians (PPPP) – clinched the third position. It received 6,822,958 votes.
The May 11 election was allegedly tainted by a series of anomalies. Independent candidates emerged as the fourth strongest parliamentary force, bagging a total of 5,773,494 votes, and winning 32 seats in the lower house.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) fielded 205 candidates for the National Assembly, but secured 18 seats from Karachi and Hyderabad for the lower house with 2,422,656 votes.
Maulan Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam-Fazl fielded 131 candidates and won 10 seats. The party secured 1,454,907 votes countrywide.
The performance of the once ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid was very unimpressive. In all, the party fielded 53 candidates but won only two National Assembly seats with 1,405,493 votes. The Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, which is limited to Sindh, fielded 28 candidates and won five seats, securing 1,007,761 votes.
The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) fielded 166 candidates but won a dismal three seats from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa only. The JI, allegedly known for its pro-establishment approach for arranging ‘dharnas’ against elected governments in the past, fetched 949,394 votes in the current elections.
Out of the 58 candidates fielded by the Awami National Party (ANP), the former ruling party in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, only one emerged victorious. The ANP managed to get only 450,561 votes. The party says attacks and threats from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was one of the main reasons why it could not carry out its election campaigns effectively.
The Muttahida Deeni Mahaz, an umbrella grouping of several religious parties, could not secure any seat in the lower house. The 87 candidates fielded by the bloc, however, won 359,589 votes.
The Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) won three seats in the National Assembly, fetching 211,989 votes. The party had fielded 30 candidates.
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed’s Awami Muslim League Pakistan fielded 16 candidates and could win only one seat from Rawalpindi. It bagged 93,051 votes. The party with the lowest votes was Pakistan Awami Inqalab with a lone candidate receiving seven votes.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 22nd, 2013.
COMMENTS (25)
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@nida ali I agree that some of the pti supporters do have the unfounded belief that they are smarter than the people who voted for the other candidates and true It is a fad to many. But your statement about kpk electing pti because of the drone strikes only is unfounded and petty. Kpk has not had a consecutive goverment since 1993 and this is because they arent coerced to vote and look at the parties performance before voting. Also the fact that you think that holding a gun in your hands is a sign of being a pathan is rather ridiculous. Is that all you know about their culture? And you call us pti " trolls" arrogant and fascist five year olds while all youre doing is using fancy occupation specific vocabulary to undermine us. Ridiculing people who actually want to change the state of nation on a comment section serves no purpose but to inflate your own ego.
Our Votes were stolen in Karachi by na'maloom afraad.. BUT Who cares for us...
Best of luck rest of Pakistan.. Don't worry we won't scream for help.. Sleep well!!!
@Nida Ali
OMG! What do u mean by "The drone strikes could appeal the voters of KPK but not to the people of other 3 provinces" Dont you think OTHER three provinces are PAKISTAN? Dont you think a Pakistani killed at the border of KP deserves sympathy and support of every Pakistani from rest of the provinces? What if US drone attacks your residence(just suppose) and Pakistanis from other provinces respond the same way as you do? Try to be united against common enemy, against Pakistan's enemy.
@Nida Ali:
The mental age of those who dislike the PTI, simply out of envy, is less than than that of a five year old.
@ Sohail Aftab
Who told you that the people have voted PTI rationally? In mega cities, it was only burger class that voted for PTI but not the common masses. See the results of downtown areas & slums in the mega cities.
Why do you ignore that blatant fact that Imran Khan made a March against drone attacks (aborted?) in October 2012? The drone strikes could appeal the voters of KPK but not to the people of other 3 provinces.
Why don't you see Imran Khan's portraits of having a gun in his hands to prove that he is a "pathan"? It was an ethnic touch even if some pseudo-intellectuals tend to ignore it. . PTI's slogan for so-called "change" has been nothing more than a vague slogan.
I am really saddened to see the most arrogant comments coming out of PTI trolls when they consider themselves as literate and consider others as illiterate. Allow me to say that these comments are totally fascist and reflect an unwanted mentality!
As a famous Pakistani lawyer rightly put it “the mental age of PTI supporters is not more than 5 years”.
@Aysha
When party just gives philosophy and no practical then it "don't take that long to convince people" and down fall starts, you can see ANP and PPP.
Writer failed to mention that JI secured votes which are pure not fake. Almost every party was pointed for fake votes but not JI and another thing that writer didn't mention is that Karachi's votes are not included to JI's vote bank due to it's boycott which could be atleast 5 hundred thousands from ten NA seats for Jamaat e Islami.
@Aysha:
Sour grapes.
A survey should be conducted to determine the real motives (e.g. biradari, vested interests, ideology etc. ) of voters behind electing candidates, I am sure that most of PTI voters voted rationally...for ideology. But in democracy, "bandoon ko gina kerty hain tola nahi kerty"
@Z: One should be thankful to PPP for the past 5 years of abysmal performance, otherwise PTI would not even have this semblence of respectability.
PTI should stage a dharna to express gratitude to PPP, PTI dharana specialist of 2013
Results validate accuracy of the pre-poll surveys conducted by Gallup and IRI. Predictions by both organizations especially in Punjab has been remarkably accurate.
Why did PTI take this long to be the 3rd largest party of the country, 17 years, genuine philosophy and clear vision do not take that long to convince people.
PPP and MQM, both parties attracted mass public appeal within 3 years of inceptions and around the same time for their first landslide victory. NOT 17 YEARS, for sure.
PTI is just a fad, will not take long to wear off.
@Roni out of senses.
@Rani If the supporters of PTI were ideal worshippers then why didnt they supported that idol during 1996 and 2002. Why now because that idol is now standing on the firm ground of principales.
@ ShanawarHashmi "All great names in history left the world but their principals remain"
New generations do not necessary follow those principles. They remain in books.So while your opinions on JI being pro-establishment and doing dharnas against elected governments have been eloquently mentioned, you have failed to mention the 'so-called' mandate of MQM in Karachi which has been completely exposed in the elections 2013.
@Aysha: And why is the PPP at its worst? It is because its leadership has been the most corrupt and incompetent in the history of Pakistan. And that's really saying something.
@Roni: There is nothing but malice in your message for PTI. No constructive criticism. It's filled with the same annoying qualities you're accusing PTI voters of. What's lost on you is the irony of the fact that you're calling PTI votes 'idol worshipers' while PTI is the only large democratic party in Pakistan.
I don't know why the likes of you are so bitter. Maybe your cynicism hasn't allowed you to believe in someone or something, but regardless of what you think of us 'idol worshipers', I hope you can provide us with some constructive criticism because I'd really like to know the place you're coming from.
yay.
This data proves poll rigging. PTI fielded more candidates than PMLN but won less seats than PPPP even though it was mor popular. These elections were mockery of democratic system.
@Roni: All great names in history left the world but their principals remain
@Roni, I agree that ideology and principles live, however one needs a strong leader to channel them out to the masses and mobilize the public opinion in line with those ideology and principles. Please don't answer back with petty comparisons; but would you call PPP a one man party in the seventies? They had an ideology, and a leader that crystallised public opinion.
All the PTI votes are legitimate..you can not compare people who went to polling station and voted with the thousands of same thumb impressions on each ballot..the worst ever election in the history of Pakistan and that also in the name of true democracy..even the 2008 elections held under a so called dictator were not rigged as this much..
Somehow PTI idol worshipers would find solace and victory in this news. The fact remains this election is not a proportional representation otherwise nobody in Baluchistan would be elected as the voting there and in FATA is negligible. There has been no election in the world where the final results changed so many times. Each vote is read and re-read till PTI gets the benefit of the doubt. The good thing about this news is PTI supporters would calm down. These one man idol worshipers don't realize that people are mortals and only principles and ideology lives.
Some comparison. PPP at its worst and PTI at its best since their inceptions