Electoral system

Características generales

  • Pakistan is an Islamic Republic with a Parliamentary system. The military have a big influence. The President renounced his executive powers in 2010 when he signed the 18th Amendment of the Constitution. The amendment put an end to the semipresidential character of the former govenrment and restores the Parliament's hegemony. 
  • Voting system of mixed type. A system in which the choices expressed by voters are used to elect representatives through two different systems, one proportional representation system and one plurality/majority system. Some representatives are chosen through a list of Proportional Representation (parties present an electoral list of candidates, people vote for a party and this receives seats according to the number of votes). The other system is a uninominal majoritarian scrutiny (simple majority system or First Past the Post). Seats are allocated differently. The former system is used for provinces and national assembly, while the latter is used for small circunscriptions. To add further complexity to the system, the elections to the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies (four) take place at the same time. 

    The President and Prime Minister and members of the Senate are chosen through indirect elections. 

    The President is elected for a term of five years by an electoral college consisting of the members of both houses of Parliament (National Assembly and Senate), and those of the Provincial Assemblies. His tenure is limited to two terms. Candidates for President must be Muslim, and members of the National Assembly. He is chosen after Parliamentary elections, once the cameras have been formed, within the following 30 days. 

    Prime Minister: The Prime Minister is elected by the National Assembly, soon after Parliamentary elections. 

    The Senate has 100 members. 14 are elected by each Provincial Assembly, 8 are elected from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), 2 seats from the Federal Capital of Islamabad. There are reserved seats for women (4) and technocrats (4). 

     

Instituciones electivas