The fairness of Pakistani elections has always been in question, but have we ever wondered whether the election system itself is fair and does it bring those in power who actually reflect the will of the people as is required under our Constitution? The answer is a big No. Rather, far from it. A system that is unable to translate every vote into representation is not only unfair but is also exclusionary. Exclusion breeds extremism.

What is not fair in the system?

The answer is not as complex as some politicians and election experts may suggest. Do the following scenarios sound fair to you?

• A political party with 1.1 million votes wins 17 National Assembly seats, while another party with 2.9 million votes wins none.
• A party with six percent of votes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa secures four seats in the Provincial Assembly, while a party with eight percent in the same province gets only one seat?
• A party with 34 percent of votes in Punjab wins 47 percent of NA seats from the province, while another party with 45 percent of votes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa win 80 percent of NA seats from the province.

These are not hypothetical scenarios. The figures come from official records of the General Election 2024 (GE-2024) published by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

• Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQMP) secured 17 National Assembly seats with 1,117,648 votes (two percent of the polled votes) while Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) did not win any seat despite receiving 2.9 million votes (five percent).
• Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) won four seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 510,986 votes (six percent) while Awami National Party (ANP) with 696,338 votes (eight percent) won only one seat.
• PML-N bagged 67 National Assembly seats in Punjab against 12.5 million votes. On the other hand, PTI 35 seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa against 3.69 million votes.

These are not the issues of any illegality or irregularity, which are publicly and generally dubbed as election rigging. These are constitutionally and legally valid election outcomes, which cannot be challenged in any court of law.

What causes these unfair electoral outcomes?

The reason is the outdated First Past the Post (FPTP) system that we use in Pakistani elections. This system is based on the principle of winner takes it all i.e. a candidate receiving 99,999 votes will not be elected against another candidate who has received one additional vote.  The FPTP discards the voices and votes of 99,999 into mere election records instead of translating them into representation or assembly seats.

This unrepresentativeness starts at the constituency-level and extends to the formation of legislatures and governments. As a result, parties with nationwide vote bank remain seatless and their voters unrepresented, while candidates who may not have majority support in their constituencies can still be elected.

So, there it is. The entirely constitutional and legal system produce a seemingly unfair outcome and weaker governments that do not enjoy the support of majority of polled or registered votes, let alone population – all yielding democracy gasping!

Want to know more on this?

FAFEN will be publishing a series of stories telling how representative current assemblies are, i.e., how much voter support the elected representatives actually received in their constituencies to win seats. Stay tuned to our website to read the story of your constituency.