General Elections 2024: Is a large number of independent candidates likely to win? A look at history

General Elections 2024: Is a large number of independent candidates likely to win? A look at history

While the general elections 2024 in Pakistan are now a few days away instead of weeks, many political and religious parties including major parties like Pakistan Muslim League-N, Pakistan Peoples Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (Pakistan) are also engaged in campaigning. .

Although it is not possible to participate in the election process as a party after the Supreme Court withdrew the election symbol of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, PTI-backed independent candidates are participating in the election process across the country.

In Election 2024, more than 200 independent candidates supported by PTI are contesting for National Assembly seats. After losing its share in the specific seats of the National and Provincial Assemblies, PTI will not be able to participate in the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Senate.

Along with this, due to the absence of specific seats in the provincial assembly, the selection of senators will also not be easy for PTI. There is no possibility of the President being from PTI.

In such a situation, PTI's Plan C has come out in recent days, according to which independent candidates supported by the party have to join PTI after winning the election. For this purpose intra-party elections of PTI are mandatory.

Last elections and number of independent candidates

Talking about the 1988 elections in Pakistan, on the one hand, where the entire country was in a very tense and chaotic situation, more than 40 seats of the National Assembly were won by independent candidates from the members of many parties.

Talking about the 2008 general elections, only 29 independent members contested for the National Assembly seats. In 2013, this number was 27 while in 2018 elections, the number of elected members was 12.

In the 2018 elections, PTI won 118 general seats, while the party that formed the government in 2013, the Muslim League-N, won two-thirds majority with 135 seats.

Earlier, Pakistan People's Party was able to form the federal government with 91 general seats in 2008 general elections.