2018 Punjab provincial election

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elected members →
297 out of 371 seats in the Punjab Assembly[a] 186 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	56.44% (1.78%)
First party Second party   Leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi Hamza Shahbaz Party PTI PML(N) Leader's seat Multan-VII (lost) Lahore-XXIII Last election 30 seats, 17.76% 313 seats, 40.77% Seats won 184 164 Seat change 154 149 Popular vote 11,157,945 10,550,406 Percentage 33.72% 31.88% Swing 15.96pp 8.89pp
Map of Punjab showing assembly constituencies and winning parties
Chief Minister before election Shehbaz Sharif PML(N) Elected Chief Minister Usman Buzdar PTI

Provincial elections were held in the Pakistani province of Punjab on to elect the members of the 17th Provincial Assembly of the Punjab on 25 July 2018, alongside nationwide general elections and three other provincial elections in Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The remaining two territories of Pakistan, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan, were ineligible to vote due to their disputed status.^[1][2]

After the elections, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was able to form the government in Punjab, with Sardar Usman Buzdar as the Chief Minister of Punjab.^[3]

Background

In the 2013 elections, the Pakistan Muslim League (N) came out with well above a supermajority in the assembly with a landslide haul of 313 seats, and were comfortably able to form a government. They were followed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which held only 30 seats.

The election was notable for the downfall of the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (Q), which, before the elections, held 106 and 79 seats respectively but were reduced to merely 8 seats each, due to the rise of PTI and PML (N), although the sheer numbers that the PML (N) held in the assembly shocked many analysts.^[4]

Shehbaz Sharif, brother of PML (N) chairman and two-time Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, became Chief Minister for the third time in his life, securing over 300 votes in the assembly.^[5]

Janoobi Punjab Sooba Mahaz

On April 10, 2018, 10 of the ruling PML-N's prominent elected candidates from South Punjab, parted ways from the party and announced a movement for the creation of South Punjab province.^[6] The movement was titled Janoobi Punjab Sooba Mahaz (lit. Front for South Punjab Province). In the coming weeks, the movement garnered widespread support and dissident MPs from the ruling coalition, as well as independents, started joining it.^[7] At its peak, the movement had the backing of 42 MPs.^[8] On May 8, 2018, the movement announced its merger with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the opposition party in the province, after PTI assured JPSM's leaders that creating the South Punjab province is a priority item in their manifesto for the 2018 elections.^[9]

Results

The results showed a virtual tie between the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML(N)). With 24 independents joining the party, the PTI came up just short of an absolute majority. The PTI and the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML(Q)) formed a coalition government in Punjab Assembly.

Party		Votes		Seats
				General				Women	Non-Muslims	Total	+/−
		No.	%	Contested	Won	Independents joined	Total
	Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf	11,157,945	33.72	284	123	24	147	33	4	184	154
	Pakistan Muslim League (N)	10,550,406	31.88	270	129	1	130	30	4	164	149
	Pakistan Muslim League (Q)	392,419	1.19	7	7	1	8	2	0	10	2
	Pakistan People's Party	1,781,330	5.38	239	6	0	6	1	0	7	1
	Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan	1,893,453	5.72	264	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Pakistan Rah-e-Haq Party	0	0.00	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	1
	Independents	6,146,632	18.57	2,255	30	27	3			3	4
	Valid Votes	33,093,912	97.40	3,975	296		296	66	8	369
	Rejected votes	882,575	2.60
	Total Votes Polled	33,976,487	100
	Registered voters/Turnout	60,197,876	56.44	Election was postponed in PP-87 Mianwali-III and PP-103 Faisalabad-VII[10]
Source: Election Commission of Pakistan[11][12][13]

Region-wise results

Division-wise results

District-wise results

Constituency-wise results

Members elected on Reserved seats