Pakistan held the biggest general elections in its history on February 8, 2024, to elect members of the 16th National Assembly. As the country marks one year since the controversial nationwide polls, let’s have a look back at major political events that unfolded during the last 12 months.
February 8, 2024 — The general elections were marked by delays in results and security concerns, including widespread internet shutdowns, leading to public frustration and allegations of rigging.
9 February 2024 — The shutdown of connectivity on polling day and the painfully slow release of unofficial results gave rise to allegations of rigging, casting doubts on the overall credibility of the vote worldwide.
Political parties — including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), whose candidates contested as independents, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) — deplored the delay in the results of the election, claiming that it was tantamount to rigging.
February 10, 2024 — The 2024 election results surprised everyone as the Imran Khan-founded party emerged as a key player in the Centre and two provincial assemblies. According to unofficial results, the PTI-backed candidates won nearly 100 seats in the National Assembly and 116 in the Punjab Assembly.
However, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) later claimed victory, leading to disputes over the election outcome.
February 13, 2024 — Amid political uncertainty owing to the February 8 poll results, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced that political parties without electoral symbols would not be allotted reserved seats in the National Assembly. The announcement came as a major blow to PTI.
February 16, 2024 — Despite having the largest number of successful candidates in the February 8 general elections, the Imran Khan-founded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) disapproved of the polls results, saying that “records of rigging were set” in the electoral process.
It also announced that it would form the opposition in the Centre and Punjab as per party founder Imran Khan’s directives.
February 18, 2024 — Political parties held countrywide protests against alleged massive rigging in the February 8 general elections, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari announced that his father, Asif Ali Zardari, will be the party’s candidate for the slot of president.
February 19, 2024 — PTI announced that independent candidates backed by the party will officially join the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) in the National Assembly (NA) as well as in provinces including Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
February 21, 2024 — The PML-N, along with the PPP and other allied parties, announced plans to form a coalition government following the contested election results. Albeit the latter did not take any ministry.
February 22, 2024 — The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) missed the February 22 deadline to post Forms 45, 46, and 47 on its website as it is legally obligated to do so.
February 24, 2024 — Protests were staged by four political parties — Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Jamate-e-Islami (JI), and the PTI — in Karachi against alleged rigging in the February 8 polls.
February 26, 2024 — After much deliberation, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) finally decided to join the PML-N-led coalition government at the Centre.
February 29, 2024 — The 16th National Assembly came into effect with the oath-taking of the lawmakers elected on February 8 amid allegations of “rigging” with the highlight being the return of former premier Nawaz Sharif to the Parliament after more than six years.
March 4, 2024 — Shehbaz Sharif was re-elected as prime minister of Pakistan for the second time, securing 201 votes against the 92 votes received by the PTI-backed Omar Ayub Khan.
March 5, 2024 — The election regulator finally uploaded the election-related forms of all the constituencies of provincial and national assemblies, almost two weeks after the expiry of the stipulated time.
March 10, 2024 — PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, who was elected as the 14th president of the country by a large margin a day earlier, took oath as the head of state.
April 1, 2024 — The Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended the sentence of PTI founder Imran Khan and his spouse, Bushra Bibi, in the Toshakhana case.
June 3, 2024 — In a major relief to the embattled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the IHC annulled jailed founder Imran Khan and party’s Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s conviction in the infamous cipher case containing charges of misusing and misplacing the classified diplomatic document.
June 26, 2024 — Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended an olive branch to his political rival Imran Khan, offering him to sit and talk if he has any issues.
In response to the prime minister’s comments, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub reiterated that the PTI would talk with the “Form-47” government once its founder and other incarcerated workers and leaders were out of jail.
July 2, 2024 — An accountability court approved former first lady Bushra Bibi’s pre-arrest bail in the £190 million reference.
July 12, 2024 — In a major victory for PTI, the Supreme Court ruled that the Imran-founded party was eligible for the allocation of reserved seats, paving the way for the party’s return to the parliament as the largest party in the National Assembly. However, the decision remains unimplemented, despite multiple admonitions by the top court.
July 13, 2024 — PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi got major relief as a district and sessions court accepted their pleas seeking annulment of their conviction in the iddat case — also known as the un-Islamic nikah case.
However, the legal troubles of the couple refused to die down as they were arrested in a new National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference related to Toshakhana gifts again.
July 26, 2024 — Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) announced a sit-in at D-Chowk and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) called a protest rally.
July 27, 2024 — The PTI moved the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) members against their alleged misconduct in holding the February 8 general election.
August 5, 2024 — Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) staged a power show in Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, demanding the release of its founder Imran Khan and a relief for inflation-hit masses.
KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur also announced to hold of the next public gathering in Islamabad in the coming days come what may. However, the PTI protest rally, scheduled for August 22, 2024, in the federal capital, was put off following the roadblocks and revocation of NOC.
August 9, 2024 — JI “deferred” its nearly 14 days-long protest sit-in after successful negotiations with the government over demands including slashing high power tariffs and reviewing agreements with independent power producers (IPPs).
August 12, 2024 — The military took into custody former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lieutenant General (retd) Faiz Hamid over allegations of land grabbing and snatching valuables from the owner of a private housing society.
Following the arrest, the process of Field General Court Martial was initiated against him, the military’s media wing announced.
September 8, 2024 — PTI leader and KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur gave a two-week deadline for the release of PTI’s jailed party founder, Imran Khan, as he flexed the party’s political muscle in the federal capital with a major rally at Sangjani locality, amid skirmishes with police.
September 20, 2024 — The NA Secretariat issued its revised party position list in the lower house of parliament reflecting each political party’s standings excluding the disputed reserved seats.
September 21, 2024 — The PTI held a much-hyped rally in Lahore despite tight time restrictions on September 21. The rally came to a sudden halt as soon as the government’s deadline to conclude the event expired, even before many top leaders could speak.
September 28, 2024 — Rawalpindi witnessed an episode of violence as PTI workers clashed with police over a protest rally near Liaquat Bagh in the garrison town. The clashes broke out in the wake of Section 144 and obstacles placed by the district administration to keep the protesters from reaching the event’s venue. The rally was later called off.
October 4, 2024 — PTI held a protest for the “judiciary’s independence” and the release of the former prime minister from jail at Islamabad’s D-Chowk, coinciding with the final day of the Malaysian prime minister’s visit to Pakistan. An Islamabad policeman was martyred during the protest.
PTI supporters and activists shout slogans during a protest in Islamabad on October 4, 2024. — AFP
October 20, 2024 — The ruling coalition, with the support of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam – Fazl (JUI-F), pushed the controversial constitutional package, the 26th Constitutional Amendment, through parliament on October 20, amid strong opposition from political rival PTI.
The amendments introduced several significant changes to the country’s judicial system. Empowering the parliament to pick the CJP from among the three most senior Supreme Court judges was a major highlight of them.
October 23, 2024 — Bushra was released after the IHC accepted her post-arrest bail plea in the new Toshakhana case involving the alleged illegal sale of state gifts.
October 26, 2024 — Justice Yahya Afridi was sworn in as Pakistan’s 30th chief justice on October 26, succeeding Justice Qazi Faez Isa as the country’s top judge for a fixed three-year term.
The top judge was the first to be appointed following new rules for selecting a chief justice, introduced through the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
November 4, 2024 — The Senate passed a bill seeking amendments to the laws that deal with all three branches of the armed forces, shortly after receiving the National Assembly’s nod, extending the fixed tenure of services chiefs up to five years.
November 24, 2024 — PTI launched a “do-or-die” protest, with participants — mostly from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — marching towards Islamabad in defiance of the restrictions imposed by Punjab and federal authorities. The sit-in, originally slated to begin on November 24, was extended due to obstacles and the slow speed of convoys, led by KP CM Gandapur and Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, before it died down abruptly in the federal capital, on November 27.
The events were marked by violence and arrests.
December 6, 2024 — Following the apparent failure of the PTI “do-or-die” protest, incarcerated party founder Imran Khan warned the government of launching a “civil disobedience” movement if his demands, including the judicial probe into the crackdown on party supporters, are not met.
He also announced the constitution of a five-member negotiation committee comprising Omar Ayub Khan, Ali Amin Gandapur, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Salman Akram Raja and Asad Qaiser.
December 9, 2024 — Just days after Imran Khan proposed a civil disobedience movement, the former ruling party announced that it was ready for dialogue.
December 23, 2024 — The federal government and the Imran Khan founded-PTI finally conducted their much-hyped meeting in a conducive environment on December 23. The PTI demanded the release of political prisoners, including its incarcerated founder Imran Khan, and the formation of a judicial commission to probe the May 9, 2023, and November 26, 2024, events.
January 17, 2025 — In a major blow to PTI, an accountability court in the federal capital convicted party founder Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in the £190 million case.
January 23, 2025 — The NA hastily approved the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act, 2025, without participation from the opposition, making changes to the existing law. The move drew severe criticism from PTI and journalist bodies.
January 23, 2025 — Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan called off negotiations with the government due to its failure to establish a judicial commission within the seven-day period.
January 26, 2025 — PTI applied for permission to hold a public gathering in Lahore on February 8 to observe a “Black Day” following the collapse of negotiations with the coalition government.
January 28, 2025 — The weeks of the negotiation process — with multiple sessions taking place — made little progress on key matters before the dialogue fell apart. The former ruling party skipped the meeting of negotiations committees on January 28.
January 28, 2025 — Nationwide protests by the journalist fraternity and the opposition erupted against the “controversial” Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Peca) (Amendment) Bill 2025.
January 31, 2025 — Journalists and media bodies, under the umbrella of the Joint Action Committee (JAC), observed a Black Day with nationwide protests against the recent controversial amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016.
February 3, 2025 — In a rare communication, the PTI founder wrote a letter to Chief of the Army Staff General Asim Munir, urging him to “change the policy” towards his party.
The letter discussed “fraudulent elections”, the alleged promotion of money launderers, the 26th Constitutional Amendment and the Al-Qadir Trust case verdict in the letter.
February 5, 2025 — Once again terming the February 8, 2024 general elections as “rigged”, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman reiterated his call for fresh elections in the country.
February 6, 2025 — The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) challenged the contentious Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act, 2025, (Peca law) in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
February 6, 2025 — Lahore city district administration rejected PTI’s application to hold a public gathering at Minar-e-Pakistan on February 8. The deputy commissioner denied permission citing security reasons.
February 7, 2025 — PTI announced that it will not engage in any confrontation or unrest on February 8, marking the first anniversary of last year’s general elections, and to hold a rally only in Swabi, while protests would take place at tehsil and union council levels.
Header and thumbnail illustration by Geo.tv
