An elected Member of the National Assembly (MNA) for NA-173 Rahimyar Khan-V secured their seat in the recent general elections despite garnering the support of only 17% of registered voters and 34% of votes cast, highlighting a critical aspect of Pakistan’s First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system.
The legislator, who won in General Elections 2024, received 83,120 votes. This figure represents 34% of the 244,742 ballots exercised in the constituency and a mere 17% of the total 484,989 registered electors, according to an information today.
Under the FPTP system, a candidate needs only the highest number of votes to win a seat, not necessarily a majority. This dynamic meant the winning candidate did not command the backing of the majority of the 50% voter turnout on 8 February 2024, as 153,677 electors, or 63% of those who voted, opted for alternative contenders.
The candidate who finished second obtained 33% of the total votes polled, while the third-placed individual secured 19%. Other candidates collectively accounted for 11% of the overall vote share. Additionally, 7,945 votes, constituting 3% of the ballots, were declared invalid.
This specific outcome forms part of a broader constituency-wise analysis by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) concerning electoral representativeness across Pakistan’s 266 National Assembly constituencies. FAFEN’s data consistently illustrates that the FPTP mechanism frequently produces elected members who lack majority endorsement.
In contrast, a proportional representation (PR) electoral framework would allocate legislative seats in direct proportion to the vote shares received by parties or candidates. Such a system aims to ensure a wider spectrum of voter preferences is reflected within elected legislative bodies. Data from Pakistan’s GE-2024 further underscores the documented disparity between votes cast and the ultimate representation achieved across all national assembly seats.