At stake in this election:

• 342 seats in the National Assembly

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Asif Ali ZARDARI
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan KHOSO (Caretaker)
• Assembly: Pakistan has a bicameral Parliament (Majlis-e-Shoora) consisting of the Senate with 104 seats and the National Assembly with 342 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by an electoral college to serve a 5-year term.
• Prime Minister is elected by parliament.
• In the Senate 104 members are elected by indirect vote to serve 6-year terms*. In the National Assembly, 272 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms, 60 members are reserved for women to serve 5-year terms and 10 members are reserved for minorities to serve 5-year terms.**

* Senate members are indirectly elected by the provincial assemblies and the territories' representatives through a proportional representation singe transferable vote. Members serve six-year terms with one half elected every three years.

** The 70 reserved seats are elected by proportional representation with a 5 percent threshold. Breakdown of National Assembly seats by Province: Punjab (148 seats); Sindh (61 seats), the North West Frontier Province (NWFP, 35 seats), Balochistan (14 seats), the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA, 12 seats), and the Federal Capital (2 seats).

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)
  • Leader: Bilawal Bhutto ZARDARI
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: 125
  • Party: Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N)
• Leader: Nawaz SHARIF
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: 91
  • Party: Movement for Justice (PTI)
  • Leader: Imran KHAN
• Seats won in last National Assembly election: N/A
  • Party: Pakistan Muslim League-Qaid (PML-Q)
  • Leader: Shujaat HUSSAIN
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: 53
• Party: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)
  • Leader: Altaf HUSSAIN
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: 25
• Party: Awami National Party (ANP)
  • Leader: Asfandyar Wali KHAN
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: 13
• Party: Jamiat Ulema-e Islam-Fazl (JUI-F)
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: N/A

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 181,192,646 (2013)
• Registered Voters: 84,207,524 (May 2013)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 88,100,487 (2013)

·         Is Pakistan a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Pakistan ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (12 March 1996)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 67 (National Assembly) following the 2002 elections; 7 (Senate) following the 2012 elections

·         Human Development Index Position: 147 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: High (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Pakistan a signatory to CRPD: Yes (25 September 2008)

·         Has Pakistan ratified CRPD: Yes (5 July 2011)

·         Population with a disability: 27,178,896 (est.)