Provincial elections were held in Balochistan on 8 February 2024 to elect a new provincial legislature. On 5 August 2023, after the approval of the results of the 2023 digital census by the Council of Common Interests headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, elections have been delayed for several months, as new delimitations will be published on 14 December 2023. On 2 November 2023, the Election Commission of Pakistan announced, in agreement with the President of Pakistan, Arif Alvi, that the elections will be held on 8 February 2024. This election will be held concurrently with nationwide general elections and other provincial elections.
Background.
In the 2018 election, the newly formed Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), created by former members of Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q) and Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N), emerged as the largest party in the province by winning 24 seats.
The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and the Balochistan National Party (Mengal) (BNP-M) became the second and third largest parties by securing 10 seats each.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won 7 seats and emerged as the fourth largest party in the province for the very first time.
The PML(N), the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) and the National Party faced their worst ever defeats, as they won one, one, and zero seats, respectively.
Since no party got the majority, the BAP, PTI, Awami National Party (ANP) and Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) formed a coalition government.
On 26 September 2021, a political crisis occurred in the province after a motion of a no-confidence motion was tabled against Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani. Alyani resigned on 24 October 2021.
Abdul Quddus Bizenjo became the new Chief Minister on 29 October 2021.
On 12 August 2023, the Assembly was dissolved by Governor Abdul Wali Kakar on Bizenjo's advice.
Ban on PTI from contesting as a party.
On 22 December 2023, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decided against letting the PTI retain its electoral symbol, arguing that the party had failed to hold intra-party elections. On 22 December, the PTI approached the Peshawar High Court (PHC) against the ECP's order and hence, a single-member bench suspended the ECP's order until 9 January 2024. On 30 December 2023, the ECP filed a review application within the PHC, and days later, a two-member bench withdrew the suspension order as it heard the case. However, on 10 January 2024, the two-member bench had declared the ECP's order to be "illegal, without any lawful authority, and of no legal effect. On 11 January, the ECP challenged this ruling in the Supreme Court, and on 13 January, a three-member bench ruled in favor of the ECP and stripped the PTI of its electoral symbol. As a consequence of this ruling, the PTI could not allot party tickets to any of its candidates. Therefore, all candidates of the party will be listed as independent candidates and each will have a different electoral symbol.
Schedule.
The schedule of the election was announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan on 15 December 2023.
Electoral system.
The 65 seats of the Balochistan Assembly consist of 51 general seats, whose members are elected by the first-past-the-post voting system through single-member constituencies. 11 seats are reserved for women and 3 seats are reserved for non-Muslims. The members on these seats are elected through proportional representation based on the total number of general seats secured by each political party.
Aftermath.
After Elections 4 Independents elected from PB-3, PB-39, PB-43 and PB-47 joined Pakistan People's Party and 2 from PB-41 and PB-51 joined Pakistan Muslim League (N). 
PPP and PML(N) both got 3 reserved seats for women each, JUI(F) got 2 and ANP and NP got 1 seats each. PML(N), PPP and JUI(F) each got 1 seat for Non-Muslims.
Elections for Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
Abdul Khaliq Khan Achakzai of PML(N) and Ghazala Gola of PPP elected unopposed as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Balochistan Assembly respectively.
Elections for Chief Minister.
Sarfraz Bugti of PPP elected as Chief Minister of Balochistan unopposed.
References.
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