During the General Elections 2024 (GE-2024), around 394 candidates contesting National and Provincial Assembly seats retired from the electoral race but still received 238,815 votes cumulatively, according to the Provisional Consolidated Statement of Results of the Count (Form-47).
To understand the scope of the issue, keep in mind that a typical provincial assembly constituency has around 250,000 registered voters.
Among the retired candidates, 205 candidates received below 100 votes including five who did not get any vote. As many as 145 candidates secured votes in the range of 100 to 999, while 44 retired candidates received more than 1,000 votes each. Notably, a candidate in PP-35 Wazirabad-I retired from the contest but still received over 59,000 votes, finishing as the runner-up in the constituency. Another received over 11,000 votes.
What is the process of retiring from an election?
Under the Elections Act, 2017, a validly nominated candidate may withdraw from the electoral contest either before or after the publication of the final list of contesting candidates (Form-33).
If a candidate withdraws under Section 65 of the Act within the deadline mentioned in the election program, their name is not included among the contesting candidates and does not appear on the ballot paper.
A candidate may also retire up to four days before polling day, as provided under Section 72 of the Act. In such cases, the candidate’s name remains on the ballot paper, as ballot papers are printed by that stage.
In both instances, the Returning Officer is required to affix a copy of the withdrawal or retirement notice at a conspicuous place in their office. However, many voters may remain unaware of such retirements.
Why do candidates retire?
Electoral contests in Pakistan are often unpredictable, like Pakistani cricket. To manage uncertainty relating to rejection of nomination papers, serious candidates frequently field so-called “covering candidates” as their replacements. Some of these candidates withdraw early under Section 65, before ballot papers are printed. Others remain in the race until later stages due to post-scrutiny challenges in the Appellate Tribunals.
In some cases, multiple aspirants contest for a party ticket, with withdrawals occurring only after campaign dynamics become clearer. When such retirements happen close to polling day, the candidates’ names remain on the ballot papers. In addition to these two, there may be several other reasons for retirement of candidates from contests.
How many candidates retired in GE-2024?
A total of 101 candidates contesting National Assembly constituencies retired after their names had been printed on ballot papers. These included 56 candidates from Punjab, 18 from Sindh, 16 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 10 from Islamabad, and one from Balochistan.
In addition, 293 candidates retired from Provincial Assembly contests, including 172 from Punjab, 54 from Sindh, 50 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 17 from Balochistan.
Overall, the 394 retired candidates were spread across 76 districts in four provinces. Rawalpindi recorded the highest number of retired candidates at 52, followed by Sialkot with 27, Lahore with 19, Sargodha with 18, Faisalabad and Hyderabad with 16 each, Lower Dir with 15, Sahiwal with 12, and Attock, Murree, Narowal, and Swat with 11 each. Islamabad recorded 10 retired candidates, while the remaining districts had fewer than 10.
