Editing Elections in Pakistan (section)

===History of Presidential elections: 1956 to 2013===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Presidential elections since 1956
|-
! Political parties !!  [[1956 Pakistani presidential elections|1956]] !! [[1965 Pakistani presidential election|1965]] 
|-
|[[Republican Party (Pakistan)|Republican Party]] (RP) ||200<ref name="A.P.H. Publishing Corporation"/>  ||0  ||
|-
|[[Pakistan Muslim League]] (PML) ||10 ||120<ref name=Overview>{{cite web|title=General Elections 1965|url=http://magazine.thenews.com.pk/mag/detail_article.asp?id=5213&magId=9|publisher=Overview|access-date=24 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051703/http://magazine.thenews.com.pk/mag/detail_article.asp?id=5213&magId=9|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>  ||
|-
|[[Movement for the Restoration of Democracy|Combined Opposition Party]] (COP) ||4 ||15<ref name=Overview />  ||
|-
|[[Pakistan Democratic Party|National Democratic Front]] || 0 || 5 ||
|-
![[Electoral College (Pakistan)|Electoral College]]
|-
| Total Votes  ||309<ref name="A.P.H. Publishing Corporation"/>  ||190|| 
|-
!Presidency
|-
|President after election ||[[Iskandar Ali Mirza|IA Mirza]] || [[Ayub Khan (Field Marshal)|A. Khan]]|| 
|-
![[Voter turnout]] 
| ||64%<ref name="A.P.H. Publishing Corporation">{{cite book|last=Ahmed|first=Salahuddin|title=Bangladesh : past and present|year=2003|publisher=A.P.H. Publishing Corporation|location=New Delhi|isbn=8176484695|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Szfqq7ruqWgC&pg=PA157 }}</ref>   ||
|-
!Political Party 
|RP || PML|| 
|}

Promulgation of [[Constitution of Pakistan of 1956|1956 constitution]], [[Iskandar Ali Mirza]] became first [[President of Pakistan]]; he was also noted of being the first [[East Pakistani|East-Pakistani]] [[Bengali people|Bengali]] [[president of Pakistan]]. In an [[indirect election]]s, the electors of the [[Awami League]] voted for Mirza's bid for presidency in 1956. Wanting a controlled democracy, President Mirza dismissed four prime ministers in less than two years and his, position in the country was quickly deteriorated amid his actions. In 1958, Mirza imposed the [[1958 Pakistani coup d'état|martial law]] under its enforcer General, [[Ayub Khan (Field Marshal)|Ayub Khan]], but was also dismissed the same year. Assuming the presidency in 1958, Ayub Khan introduced a "System of Basic Democracy" which means that "the voters delegate their rights to choose the president and the members of the national and provincial assemblies to 80,000 representatives called Basic Democrats."<ref>http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/studies/PDF-FILES/Artical%20-%205.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref>

Under this system, the first direct presidential election was held on 2 January 1965. Some 80,000 'basic democrats', as members of urban and regional councils, caucused to vote. There were two main contestants: the [[Pakistan Muslim League]] led by President [[Ayub Khan (Field Marshal)|Ayub Khan]] and the Combined Opposition Parties (COP) under the leadership of [[Fatima Jinnah]]. In this highly controversial election with the means of using the state machinery to [[Vote rigging|rigging]] the votes, the PML secured a thumping majority of 120 seats while the opposition could clinch only 15 seats. [[Fatima Jinnah]]'s Combined Opposition Party (COP) only secured 10 seats whereas the NDF won 5 seats in East Pakistan and 1 in West Pakistan. The rest of the seats went to the independents.

Witnessing the events in 1965, the new drafted constitution created the [[Electoral College of Pakistan|Electoral College]] system, making the president as mere figurehead. In 1973, [[Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry]] became the first president from the PPP in an indirect polling.<ref name="Fazal Ilahi becomes President" /> With the [[Operation Fair Play|martial law]] rem[[Operation Fair Play|ing]] ned effective from 1977 till 1988, civil servant [[Ghulam Ishaq Khan]] ran for the presidency on a PPP ticket in a deal to support [[Benazir Bhutto]] for presidency.<ref name="Ghulam Ishaq Khan becomes President" /> With [[Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|special powers]] granted to President GI Khan, he dismissed two elected governm[[Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|s]] ent duri[[Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|the]] ng peri[[Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|of]] od 1990 and 1993; he too was forced out from the office the same year.<ref name="Ghulam Ishaq Khan becomes President" /> After the [[1993 Pakistani general election|1993 general election]], the PPP nominated [[Farooq Leghari]] who soon secured majority votes in the parliament.<ref name="Sardar Farooq Legahri Becomes President" /> Originally elected for five-year term, Leghari was forced resigned from the presidency after forcing out [[Benazir Bhutto]] from the government in 1996. In [[1997 Pakistani general election|1997 general election]], [[Nawaz Sharif]] called for fresh presidential elections and nominated [[Rafiq Tarar]] for the presidency.<ref name="Muhammad Rafiq Tarar elected as President" /> In an [[indirect election]], Tarar received heavy votes from the electors of [[Electoral College of Pakistan|Electoral College]], becoming the first president from the PML (N).<ref name="Muhammad Rafiq Tarar elected as President" /> In 1999 [[1999 Pakistani coup d'état|martial law]] against Sharif, Musharraf appointed himself President in 2001.<ref name="Musharraf becomes President">{{cite web|title=Musharraf becomes President|date=21 February 2004|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/pervez-musharraf-becomes-president/|publisher=Musharraf becomes President|access-date=24 May 2013}}</ref> In 2004, he secured his reappointment for the presidency; though the [[Alliance for Restoration of Democracy|opposition]] and [[Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal|religious alliance]] boycotted the elections.<ref name="Musharraf becomes President"/> In 2007, Musharraf again restored his appointment after the [[Alliance for Restoration of Democracy|opposition parties]] also boycotted the elections. As Musharraf was forced out from power, [[Asif Zardari]] of PPP became president after a close [[2008 Pakistani presidential election|presidential elections]] in 2008.<ref name="Musharraf becomes President"/> The [[2013 Pakistani general election|Pakistani general election of 2013]] were held on 11 May 2013. [[Electricity sector in Pakistan|Problems with providing electricity]] was one of the major issues with the winning candidate, [[Nawaz Sharif]], promising to reform electrical service and provide reliable service.<ref name=NYT52713>{{cite news|title=Pakistan Faces Struggle to Keep Its Lights On|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/28/world/asia/pakistan-electricity-shortages-reach-crisis-stage.html|access-date=May 28, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 27, 2013|author=Declan Walsh|author2=Salman Masood}}</ref> [[Mamnoon Hussain]] won this election.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Political parties performances in Presidential elections since 1971
|-
! Political parties !!  [[1973 Pakistani presidential election|1973]] !! [[1988 Pakistani presidential election|1988]] !! [[1993 Pakistani presidential election|1993]] !! [[1997 Pakistani presidential election|1997]] !! [[2004 Pakistani presidential election|2004]] !!  [[2007 Pakistani presidential election|2007]]  !! [[2004 Pakistani presidential election|2008]] !! [[2013 Pakistani presidential election|2013]] !! [[2018 Pakistani presidential election|2018]]
|-
|[[Pakistan Peoples Party]] (PPP)|| 451<ref name="Fazal Ilahi becomes President"/> || 608<ref name="Ghulam Ishaq Khan becomes President"/> || 274<ref name="Sardar Farooq Legahri Becomes President">{{cite web|title=Sardar Farooq Legahri Becomes President|date=June 2003|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/sardar-farooq-legahri-becomes-president/|publisher=Sardar Farooq Legahri Becomes President|access-date=23 May 2013}}</ref>  || 31<ref name="Muhammad Rafiq Tarar elected as President"/> || [[Election boycott|EB]] ||[[Election boycott|EB]] || 481 ||[[Election boycott|EB]]|| 124
|-
|[[Pakistan Muslim League (N)]] (PML (N))|| – || –  || 168<ref name="Sardar Farooq Legahri Becomes President"/> || 374<ref name="Muhammad Rafiq Tarar elected as President">{{cite web|title=Muhammad Rafiq Tarar elected as President|date=June 2003|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/muhammad-rafiq-tarar-elected-as-president/|publisher=Muhammad Rafiq Tarar elected as President|access-date=23 May 2013}}</ref>  || [[Election boycott|EB]] || [[Election boycott|EB]] || 153 ||432||
|-
|[[Pakistan Muslim League (Q)|Pakistan Muslim League(Q)]] (PML (Q)) ||–  || 0|| 0 || 0 ||658 ||671 || 44 || – ||
|-
|[[Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf]] (PTI) || – || - || - || - || - || - || - || 77 || 352
|- 
![[Electoral College (Pakistan)|Electoral College]]
|-
| Total [[Electoral College (Pakistan)|Electoral College]] || 457  || 700   ||442  || 457  || 1,170 ||1,170   || 700 || 706 || 679
|-
!Presidency
|-
|President after election ||[[Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry|FI Chaudhy]] || [[Ghulam Ishaq Khan|GI Khan]] || [[Farooq Leghari|F .Leghari]] || [[Rafiq Tarar|R. Tarrar]] || [[Pervez Musharraf|P.Musharraf]] ||P.Musharraf || [[Asif Zardari|A.Zardari]] ||[[Mamnoon Hussain|M.Hussain]] || [[Arif Alvi]]
|-
!Political Party 
|PPP || PPP || PPP || PML (N) || PML (Q) ||  PML (Q) || PPP ||PML (N)|| PTI
|-
![[Figurehead]] || Yes || Yes || Yes || Yes || No || No ||Yes ||Yes|| Yes 
|}

[[Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry]] became president in 1973 with PPP's support in four provinces.<ref name="Fazal Ilahi becomes President">{{cite news|title=Fazal Ilahi becomes President|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/fazal-ilahi-becomes-president/|access-date=23 May 2013|newspaper=Fazal Ilahi becomes President}}</ref> [[Ghulam Ishaq Khan|GI Khan]] was candidate of PPP in return of supporting [[Benazir Bhutto]] in 1988.<ref name="Ghulam Ishaq Khan becomes President">{{cite web|title=Ghulam Ishaq Khan becomes President|date=June 2003|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/ghulam-ishaq-khan-becomes-president/|publisher=Ghulam Ishaq Khan becomes President|access-date=23 May 2013}}</ref> Pervez Musharraf gained political support from PML (Q) as their president in 2004 and 2007; both elections were controversial as leading parties PPP and PML (N) boycotted the elections.