Provincial elections were held in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on 25 July 2018 to elect the members of the 11th Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, alongside nationwide general elections and three other provincial elections in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab. The remaining two territories of Pakistan, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan, were ineligible to vote due to their disputed status.
Background In the 2013 elections, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, led by former cricketer Imran Khan emerged as the largest party in the province with 48 seats. While this was a considerably higher number than the second largest party, (Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F), with 16 seats), it was still 15 seats short of a majority government.
To overcome this, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf formed a coalition government with Jamaat-e-Islami and the Qaumi Watan Party, giving them 15 extra seats. As well as this, 9 out of the 14 independents elected joined PTI, giving them a comfortable majority in the assembly.
Following this, Pervez Khattak was elected as Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, securing 84 out of 124 votes.
However, in 2017, PTI ousted QWP from the ruling coalition over allegations of corruption. There was considerable mistrust with the other alliance partner, JI, during the tenure as well. It, too, left the coalition with less than 40 days to go in the government's tenure.
With just a few weeks remaining till the assembly completed its term, PTI expelled 20 of its MPs over allegations of horse-trading in the senate elections. A move which made the party's government susceptible to a no-confidence motion, but the incumbent opposition refrained from doing so.
Pre-election violence On 10 July, there was a suicide bombing attack on political rally of Awami National Party (ANP) in YakaToot neighborhood of Peshawar in which fourteen people were killed and sixty five injured. Among the killed was ANP's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly candidate, Haroon Bilour. Bilour was son of Bashir Ahmad Bilour who was also killed in a suicide bombing attack in December 2012. Elections for Constituency PK-78 were postponed to an disclosed date by the Election Commission. On 12 July, a spokesperson for former Member of National Assembly Alhaj Shah Jee Gul Afridi was killed and another citizen was injured after unidentified men opened fire at the spokesperson's car in Peshawar.
On 13 July, 4 citizens were killed and 10 were injured after a planted bomb exploded near the car of JUI-F candidate Akram Khan Durrani in Bannu.
Results
Results by party 85 13 9 6 5 1 3
2018 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial electionParty%VotesSeats-/+GeneralWomenNon-MuslimsTotalPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf34.092,132,36467*1628528Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal18.011,126,445102113new partyAwami National Party12.85803,89572092Pakistan Muslim League (N)10.47655,39151067Pakistan Peoples Party9.67604,93041055Pakistan Muslim League (Q)0.0001**0011Independents14.89931,98930039Elections postponed2002Total1006,255,01499223124*2 candidates were elected as independents but later joined the PTI **The PML(Q)'s sole member was elected as an independent but later joined the party
Results by division Division Total seats PTI MMA ANP PML(N) PPP IND Malakand 24 17 2 3 0 2 0 Hazara 18 9 0 1 4 0 4 Mardan 13 11 0 1 1 0 0 Peshawar 24 21 0 2 0 0 0 Kohat 7 3 3 0 0 0 1 Bannu 7 3 3 0 0 1 0 D I Khan 6 1 2 0 0 1 1 Total 99 65 10 7 5 4 6
Results by district Division District Seats PTI MMA ANP PML(N) PPP INDMalakand Chitral 1 0 1 0 0 0 0Swat 8 8 0 0 0 0 0Upper Dir 3 0 1 0 0 2 0Lower Dir 5 4 0 1 0 0 0Malakand 2 2 0 0 0 0 0Buner 3 2 0 1 0 0 0Shangla 2 1 0 1 0 0 0Hazara Upper Kohistan 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 Lower Kohistan 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 Kolai Palas 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 Battagram 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 Mansehra 5 2 0 0 3 0 0 Torghar 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 Abbottabad 4 3 0 0 1 00 Haripur 3 2 0 0 0 01Mardan Swabi 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 Mardan 8 6 0 1 1 0 0Peshawar Charsadda 5 4 0 1 0 0 0 Nowshera 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 Peshawar 14 12 0 1 0 0 0Kohat Kohat 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 Hangu 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 Karak 2 0 2 0 0 0 0Bannu Bannu 4 2 1 0 0 1 0 Lakki Marwat 3 1 2 0 0 0 0Dera Ismail Khan Tank 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 Dera Ismail Khan 5 1 1 0 0 1 1Total 99 65 10 7 5 4 6
Results by constituency
DistrictConstituencyWinnerRunner UpMarginTurnout