2008 Pakistani general election

General elections were held in Pakistan on 18 February 2008 to elect members of the 13th National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies.

On 3 November 2007 President Pervez Musharraf enacted a state of emergency; elections were initially postponed indefinitely. However, it was later stated they would be held as planned. On 8 November 2007 Musharraf announced that the elections would be held by 15 February 2008, before suggesting a date of 8 January. Following the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December 2007, the Election Commission conducted a meeting and announced that 8 January was no longer a feasible date and the elections would be held on 18 February.

The elections saw the resurgence of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N), as they emerged as the two largest parties in the National Assembly. Following Bhutto's death, the PPP had come under the leadership of her nineteen-year-old son Bilawal. However, the party's election campaign was led by Benazir's husband and Bilawal's father Asif Ali Zardari, in his capacity as the co-chairman of the party. Meanwhile, PML-N was under the leadership of Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, although the party's eponymous founder Nawaz Sharif had returned from exile and was taking part in the Election campaign. At the provincial level, the PPP won in Sindh, the PML-N dominated in Punjab, the Awami National Party emerged as the largest party in North-West Frontier Province and Musharraf's Pakistan Muslim League (Q) won the most seats in Balochistan. Around 35.2 million people voted, with voter turnout just 44%.

Musharraf conceded the defeat of his party and pledged to work with the new Parliament. Due to a common mistrust of Musharraf, the PPP and PML-N initially formed a coalition government. Although Ameen Faheem was expected to lead the new government, PPP leaders agreed to appoint Yousaf Raza Gillani as Prime Minister. Within a week, the PML-N left the coalition to lead the impeachment movement and a campaign to restore the judiciary. The PPP instead formed a government with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Awami National Party and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F).

By-elections for 28 seats (23 provincial and five national) were delayed numerous times, with most of them held as late as 26 June 2008.

Since 2004, there was a sharp rise of terrorism incidents took place during the presidency of General Pervez Musharraf. A serious incident took place in Red Mosque located in Islamabad when Police's special forces conducted an armed raid in the Mosque. The general elections were dealt with a great shock on 27 December 2007 when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated while leaving a rally in Rawalpindi. Bhutto's assassination raised many questions as to whether the general election would be postponed. Following the fatal attack, Pervez Musharraf held an emergency meeting with other government officials, but stated that "no decision had been made on whether to delay the national elections."

Benazir Bhutto had "become an appealing solution" to United States officials frustrated with President Musharraf's failure to restore democracy to Pakistan, The New York Times said.

The PML(N) stated after the assassination that his party would boycott the election. The PML(N) later stated that the party would take part if PPP contests the election. The PPP then decided to name Benazir Bhutto's son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the new party leader with his father Asif Ali Zardari as co-leader, as asked for in Benazir Bhutto's testament. The party also decided that it would contest the elections and stated that the elections should be held as planned.