Pakistan’s 2024 elections set to break the bank with projected Rs558 billion spending

ISLAMABAD: Political parties and the government are poised to set an unprecedented record in election spending, surpassing Rs550 billion in the upcoming general election — a milestone in the electoral history of Pakistan.

The estimated expenses for the 2018 general election, combining government and candidates’ costs, amounted to approximately Rs170 billion, as assessed by experts and election tracking analysts.

The previous three elections—2008, 2013 and 2018—cost government at around Rs28.2 billion while the forthcoming 2024 elections are anticipated to incur government expenditures of Rs58 billion alone.

Of this, Rs17 billion will be earmarked for the deployment of security personnel across 91,805 polling stations, where elections will be held for 859 seats in the provincial and national assemblies, according to officials associated with the electoral process.

The 2024 elections are projected to be the costliest in Pakistan’s history, with an expected expenditure of Rs500 billion by 14,000 candidates and their supporters nationwide on election campaigns and media advertising.

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) officials reveal that approximately Rs58 billion will be allocated for staff transportation, polling procedures, training of polling staff, printing of ballot papers and boxes, compensation, and security measures during the general election.

Official statistics indicate that the combined cost of the general elections in 2008, 2013, and 2018 was Rs28.6 billion.

ECP officials emphasize that this time arouned, an additional Rs17 billion will be dedicated to security arrangements, involving 0.9 million security personnel, including 20,000 private security guards.

The Hum Investigation Team (HIT) has confirmed through informed officials that around 90,000 CCTV cameras will be installed, marking a significant increase from the Rs22 billion spent on the 2018 general election, compared to Rs4.73 billion in 2013 and Rs1.84 billion in 2008.

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Experts comment that 14,000 candidates are expected to vie for 859 National Assembly and provincial assembly seats, incurring an additional cost of Rs500 billion from candidates, supporters, financiers, and media advertising.

They further note that, in 859 constituencies, the expenditure per registered voter is predicted to be Rs5,000. The new election law allows candidates to spend Rs10 per voter, amounting to Rs10 million for the 0.9 million voters of the National Assembly and Rs4 million for the nearly 0.4 million voters of the provincial assembly.

HIT collected these aggregate estimates from regulators, including political teams, donors, non-governmental organizations, rulers, governments, candidates, and the ECP.

Officials and experts emphasize that the ECP will establish more than 91,000 polling stations with about 310,000 polling booths for the upcoming general election. They reveal that 58% of polling stations in the country have been declared sensitive.

In Punjab, 51,821 polling stations will be set up, followed by 19,236 in Sindh, 1,537 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 5,015 in Balochistan. The total number of registered voters for the election is reported to be 126,980,272, including 68,508,258 men and 58,472,014 women.

Officials also state that eight major political parties are expected to sell tickets worth Rs1 billion, with PML-N, PTI, and PPP anticipating donations of Rs10 billion from their election campaigns.

Former Secretary of the Election Commission, Kanwar Muhammad Dalshad, predicts that the upcoming elections will be the most expensive in the country’s history. He justifies this claim by citing peak inflation and the digital era’s influence, asserting that candidates seek to reach more voters through digital platforms, turning elections into a billion-rupee battle where voters and candidates are connected by substantial resources.