There were allegations that both the provincial and general elections were engineered and rigged to bring Musharraf and his aligned party, the PML-Q in power.[2]
Chaudry Nisar Ali Khan would not contest in a constituency, and during Musharraf’s military government, the PMLN was under severe pressure, with Nawaz Sharif, the party chairman under charges of life in prison. This weakened the PMLN campaign countrywide and in Punjab.[3]
The two PPP and PMLN campaigns were weakened due to Musharraf’s incumbent military government, this allowed the PML-Q to campaign further. Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is from the Chaudhry family, and held political connections to Musharraf and was formerly part of the PML-N. Pervaiz Elahi’s campaign offered a centre-right political program primarily promoting development, as well as Pakistani nationalism, Conservatism and a halt to PML-N alleged corruption, although his campaign mainly relied on his political connections, primarily to Musharraf.[4][2]
These candidates and campaigning factors allowed the PML-Q to win the elections, although the PML-Q’s opponents such as the PPP and PMLN alleged rigging.[2] The results allowed Pervaiz Elahi to become Chief Minister of Punjab for almost 5 years, in which he brought extensive reforms during his tenure.[5]
