- Electoral system favours major parties disproportionately.
- JUIP, TLP, JIP underrepresented despite vote share.
- MQM-P gains more seats than its vote percentage.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) secured a significantly higher number of assembly seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Sindh compared to their percentage of votes, The News reported citing Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) on Sunday.
Similarly, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) also gained more seats than its vote share in Punjab — courtesy of the First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) system selects a winner based on who receives the highest number of votes among the candidates.
In contrast, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan — Fazl (JUI-F) — received a higher percentage of votes in KP but failed to secure a proportionate number of seats. According to a report by Fafen, JUI-F ranked second in KP with 1,269,230 votes (15%) but managed to win only seven provincial assembly seats (6%).
By comparison, the PTI’s provincial assembly candidates in KP secured 3,093,306 votes (38%) but won 85 provincial assembly seats (75%), demonstrating a significant disparity. Similarly, in Sindh, PPPP received 5,228,678 votes (46%) but secured 85 provincial seats (65%), the Fafen report highlights.
Whereas, in Sindh, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) also secured a higher proportion of seats as against its votes. It received 905,992 (8%) provincial assembly votes and bagged 28 provincial assembly seats (22%).
In Punjab, the PTI secured 11,272,578 (31%) provincial assembly votes. The party won 109 (37%) provincial assembly seats. Whereas, PML-N received 11,515,206 (32%) provincial assembly votes and secured 139 (47%) provincial assembly seats.
In Balochistan, the JUI-F is the leading party in terms of the share of provincial assembly votes of 400,072 (18%) and nine (18%) provincial assembly seats. Mainly, in contrast to the three leading parties, barring the MQM-P, several other parties along with JUI-F secured a much more significant vote share that did not translate into seats.
Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), the fourth largest party, did not get any NA seat for its 2,918,086 (5%) votes and won only one seat in the Punjab Assembly for its 3,047,019 (5%) provincial assembly votes. The JUI-F which is the fifth largest party overall, secured six National Assembly seats for its 2,292,355 (4%) NA votes and 16 provincial assembly seats for its 2,286,546 (4%) provincial votes.
Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JI), the sixth largest party overall, received 1,345,371 (2%) NA votes but did not win any seats in the lower house. The party won three provincial assembly seats (two in Sindh and one in Balochistan) for an overall provincial vote tally of 1,739,774 (3%) votes.
Explaining reasons about these discrepancies in share of votes and seats secured in provincial assemblies, Sahibzada Saud, Team Lead Research and Learning Fafen, said: “Two primary factors — the electoral system and local electoral dynamics — may account for the discrepancy between a party’s share of votes and seats”.
“The First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) system selects a winner based on who receives the highest number of votes among the candidates, without considering the proportion of total polled or registered votes in a constituency or whether other candidates collectively obtain more votes than the winner. Furthermore, local political dynamics in most constituencies also contribute to this phenomenon,” remarked the Fafen official.
“Since the FPTP system only necessitates that the candidate with the majority of votes wins, candidates frequently target their campaigns towards gaining sufficient support from specific local groups and communities to secure victory, rather than attempting to engage all voters within their constituency.
“When overall results are analysed, the discrepancies in party shares of votes and seats arising from these two factors become increasingly significant and noticeable,” Saud added.
