2002 Punjab provincial election

Provincial elections were held in the Pakistani province of Punjab to elect the 14th Provincial Assembly of the Punjab on 10 October 2002, alongside nationwide general elections and three other provincial elections in Sindh, Balochistan and North-West Frontier Province. The remaining two territories of Pakistan, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan, were ineligible to vote due to their disputed status. The elections were held under the military government of General Pervez Musharraf.[1] The elections saw an end to the two-party system between the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (N), with the centre-right Pakistan Muslim League (Q) emerging as a third main party supporting Musharraf.

2002 Punjab provincial election

← 1997 10 October 2002 2008 →

All 371 seats in the Provincial Assembly
186 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi Qasim Zia Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan
Party PML(Q) PPP PML(N)
Leader's seat Rahim Yar Khan-VIII Lahore-XIX Not contest
Seats won 210 79 47
Seat change Increase210 Increase76 Decrease 164
Popular vote 6,144,813 4,145,106 3,028,856
Percentage 33.33 22.48% 16.43%

Map of the results of the election, by constituency

Chief Minister before election

Governor's rule

Elected Chief Minister

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi
PML(Q)

There were allegations that both the provincial and general elections were engineered and rigged to bring Musharraf and his aligned party, the PML-Q in power.[2]

Candidates and Campaign

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There were three main candidates in the election, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Qasim Zia, and Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan. Qasim Zia from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was lesser-known, and paired with the fact that the PPP held lesser influence in Punjab, due to the fact that the PPP mainly campaigned in Sindh, made the PPP-Qasim Zia campaign weak.

Chaudry Nisar Ali Khan would not contest in a constituency, and during Musharraf’s military government, the PMLN was under severe pressure, with Nawaz Sharif, the party chairman under charges of life in prison. This weakened the PMLN campaign countrywide and in Punjab.[3]

The two PPP and PMLN campaigns were weakened due to Musharraf’s incumbent military government, this allowed the PML-Q to campaign further. Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is from the Chaudhry family, and held political connections to Musharraf and was formerly part of the PML-N. Pervaiz Elahi’s campaign offered a centre-right political program primarily promoting development, as well as Pakistani nationalism, Conservatism and a halt to PML-N alleged corruption, although his campaign mainly relied on his political connections, primarily to Musharraf.[4][2]

These candidates and campaigning factors allowed the PML-Q to win the elections, although the PML-Q’s opponents such as the PPP and PMLN alleged rigging.[2] The results allowed Pervaiz Elahi to become Chief Minister of Punjab for almost 5 years, in which he brought extensive reforms during his tenure.[5]

Results

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  Pakistan Peoples Party: 79 seats
  National Party: 15 seats
  Pakistan Muslim League (Q): 209 seats
  Pakistan Muslim League (Jinnah): 4 seats
  Pakistan Muslim League (J): 4 seats
  Pakistan Muslim League (N): 47 seats
  Pakistan Muslim League (Z): 2 seats
  Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal: 11 seats
PartyVotes%Seats
GeneralWomenMinorityTotal
Pakistan Muslim League (Q)6,144,81333.33168375210
Pakistan Peoples Party4,145,10622.486314279
Pakistan Muslim League (N)3,028,85616.43388147
National Alliance577,4153.13123015
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal1,044,2175.6692011
Pakistan Muslim League (J)219,0481.193104
NMP216,4391.170000
Pakistan Muslim League (Jinnah)134,7480.733104
Pakistan Muslim League (Z)74,4300.401001
Others417,7032.270000
Independents2,435,19913.210000
Total18,437,974100.00297668371
Source: Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) [1]

References

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  1. ^ "General Elections 2002 | After three years of military rule, Pakistan again headed towards democracy on October 2002". Story Of Pakistan. 2004-02-21. Archived from the original on 2019-09-21. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
  2. ^ a b c Majeed, Zohaib Ahmed (2024-02-07). "Ranking the 5 'dirtiest' elections in Pakistan history". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  3. ^ Harding, Luke (2000-04-07). "Sharif sentenced to life for Musharraf plot". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  4. ^ "In focus: Pervaiz Elahi banking on old-fashioned support". www.brecorder.com. 2024-02-01. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  5. ^ Shahnawaz, T., Khursheed, M., & Abbas, M. W. (2020). Political Stability and Social Reforms in Punjab, Pakistan by Pervaiz Elahi. Global Political Review, V(I), 216-223. https://doi.org/10.31703/gpr.2020(V-I).24