document_title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)

question_text: what age is harry potter in order of the phoenix

text: Plot[edit]

text: During another summer with his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, Harry Potter and Dudley are attacked by Dementors. After using magic to save Dudley and himself, Harry is expelled from Hogwarts, but the decision is later reversed after a hearing at the Ministry of Magic. Harry is whisked off by a group of wizards including Mad-Eye Moody, Remus Lupin, and several new faces, including Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt, to Number 12, Grimmauld Place, the childhood home of his godfather, Sirius Black. The building also serves as the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organisation founded by Albus Dumbledore, informs Harry Potter that the Ministry of Magic is oblivious to Lord Voldemort's return. At the Order's headquarters, Sirius Black, mentions that Voldemort is after an object he did not have during his previous attack.

text: Back at Hogwarts, Harry learns that Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge has appointed a new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor: Dolores Umbridge. She and Harry immediately clash, and she punishes Harry for his "lies" by forcing him to write a message with a magic quill, scarring his hand. When Ron and Hermione notice Harry's scars they are outraged, but Harry refuses to go to Dumbledore, who has distanced himself from Harry since the summer. As Umbridge's control over the school increases, Ron and Hermione aid Harry in forming a secret group to train students in defensive spells, calling themselves "Dumbledore's Army". Umbridge recruits the Slytherin students to expose the group. Meanwhile, Harry and Cho Chang develop romantic feelings for each other.

text: Harry has a vision involving an attack upon Arthur Weasley, from the point of view of Arthur's attacker. Concerned that Voldemort will exploit this connection to Harry, Dumbledore instructs Severus Snape to give Harry Occlumency lessons to defend his mind from Voldemort's influence. The connection between Harry and Voldemort leads Harry to further isolate himself from his friends. Meanwhile, Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius' deranged Death Eater cousin, escapes from Azkaban along with nine other Death Eaters. At Hogwarts, Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad expose Dumbledore's Army. Dumbledore escapes as Fudge orders his arrest. Umbridge becomes the new Headmistress. Harry's relationship with Cho falls apart, as he believes she betrayed Dumbledore's Army to Umbridge. Harry discovers through Snape's memories why Snape hated Harry's father James, who often ridiculed him.

text: Harry has another vision, this one of Sirius being tortured by Voldemort. Harry, Ron and Hermione rush to Umbridge's fireplace to alert the Order via the Floo Network, since hers is the only fireplace not being monitored, but Umbridge stops them before they can do so. As Umbridge tortures Harry, Hermione tricks Umbridge into entering the Forbidden Forest in search of Dumbledore's "secret weapon". She and Harry lead her to the hiding place of Hagrid's giant half-brother, Grawp, only to be confronted by centaurs who kidnap Umbridge after she attacks and insults them. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville and Ginny fly to the Ministry of Magic on Thestrals in an attempt to save Sirius.

text: The six enter the Department of Mysteries where they uncover a bottled prophecy, the object Voldemort was after. However, they are ambushed by Death Eaters including Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. Lucius reveals that Harry only saw a dream of Sirius being tortured; it was simply a ruse to lure Harry into the Death Eaters' grasp. Harry refuses to give Lucius the prophecy, and a fight between Dumbledore's Army and the Death Eaters ensues. The Death Eaters take everyone except Harry as hostages, threatening to kill them unless he surrenders the prophecy.

text: Harry obliges just as Sirius and Remus Lupin arrive with Order members Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Mad-Eye Moody. As they attack the Death Eaters, Lucius drops the prophecy, destroying it. Just as Sirius overpowers Lucius, Bellatrix kills Sirius. Voldemort appears, but Dumbledore arrives through the Floo Network moments before Voldemort can kill Harry.

text: A duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore ensues, destroying much of the Atrium, while Bellatrix escapes. After the two prove evenly matched, Voldemort possesses Harry to try to get Dumbledore to sacrifice Harry, but the love Harry feels for his friends and Sirius makes it impossible for Voldemort to remain in his body. Ministry officials arrive before Voldemort disapparates; Fudge is forced to admit that Voldemort has returned and is forced out of his position as Minister in disgrace. Umbridge is removed from Hogwarts and Dumbledore returns as headmaster. Dumbledore explains that he distanced himself from Harry throughout the year hoping it would lessen the risk of Voldemort using their connection. Harry comes to terms with the prophecy; "Neither can live while the other survives."

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, a 15-year-old British wizard famous for surviving his parents' murder at the hands of Voldemort as an infant, who now enters his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, Harry's best friend at Hogwarts.
Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, Harry's Muggle-born best friend and the brains of the trio.
Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, one of Voldemort's most loyal Death Eaters and the cousin of Sirius Black.
Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, the half-giant Gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort, leader of the Death Eaters, a dark wizard intent on conquering the Wizarding World.
Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore, the legendary Hogwarts headmaster and leader of the Order of the Phoenix.
Brendan Gleeson as Mad-Eye Moody, Harry's ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley, Harry's Muggle uncle.
Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, a falsely pardoned senior Death Eater.
Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, the Potions teacher at Hogwarts and the Head of Slytherin
Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley, Harry's Muggle aunt.
Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and a plant from the corrupt Ministry of Magic.[8]
David Thewlis as Remus Lupin, Harry's ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney, the Divination teacher at Hogwarts.
Julie Walters as Molly Weasley, the Weasley matriarch and a mother figure to Harry, also a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

text: Casting[edit]

text: Casting began as early as May 2005, when Radcliffe announced he would reprise his role as Harry.[9] Across the media frenzy that took place during the release of Goblet of Fire, most of the main returning actors announced their return to the series, including Grint, Watson, Lewis, Wright, Leung, and Fiennes.[10][11][12][13][14][15]

text: The announcements of the casting of the rest of the new characters to the series was spanned across 2006. Evanna Lynch won the role of Luna Lovegood over 15,000 other girls who attended the open casting call,[16] waiting in a line of hopefuls that stretched a mile long.[17] Saoirse Ronan was considered for the role.[18]

text: Persistent rumours linked Elizabeth Hurley to the role of Bellatrix Lestrange, although Warner Bros. asserted there was "no truth whatsoever" to reports that she had been cast.[19] As early as August 2005, rumours began linking Helen McCrory to the role.[20] On 2 February 2006 it was announced that McCrory had indeed been cast as Bellatrix.[21] However, in April 2006 she revealed that she was three months pregnant and withdrew from the film because she would not have been able to perform the intense battle sequences in the Ministry of Magic in September and October 2006. The announcement that Bonham Carter had been recast in the role was made on 25 May 2006.[22] McCrory was subsequently cast as Narcissa Malfoy from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince onwards.

text: The inclusion or cutting of some characters sparked speculation from fans as to the importance of the characters in the final book of the series, which was released just ten days after the film. In April 2006, representatives of Jim McManus said he would be playing Aberforth Dumbledore, Albus' brother and the barman of the Hog's Head, in which Harry and his friends found Dumbledore's Army. A week later WB announced that the role was "very minor", allaying some of the speculation to the significance of the role, which, before the final book, was not even a speaking part.[23] MTV reported in October 2006 that Dobby the house elf, who appeared in the second film, Chamber of Secrets, and in the fifth book, would be cut, opening up "plot questions" as to how the role of the elf would be filled.[24] MTV also reported about a month before the release of the final book that Kreacher, the Black family's house-elf, was cut from the film in one draft of the script. However, after Rowling prodded the filmmakers to include him, saying, "You know, I wouldn't [cut him] if I were you. Or you can, but if you get to make a seventh film, you'll be tied in knots", he was added back into the script.[25]

text: Other minor roles were cut with subsequent drafts of the script. At the US premiere of Goblet of Fire, series producer David Heyman said that former Hogwarts professor Gilderoy Lockhart, played by Kenneth Branagh in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was in the first draft of the script for Phoenix.[26] However, neither Branagh nor the character of Lockhart appears in the final version. Tiana Benjamin was scheduled to return for the film in the role of Angelina Johnson, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but she had to withdraw due to a commitment to playing Chelsea Fox in EastEnders. The character, as well as the entire Quidditch subplot, was ultimately cut from the film. She did, however, record sound clips for the Order of the Phoenix video game.[27]

text: The family of footballer Theo Walcott made a cameo appearance in the film. They were signed on by director David Yates, who is the partner of Yvonne Walcott, Theo's aunt.[28][29] Theo himself was due to appear alongside his family, though his commitments to Arsenal Football Club forced him to pull out.[30]

text: Production[edit]

text: British television director David Yates was chosen to direct the film after Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire director Mike Newell, as well as Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Guillermo del Toro, Matthew Vaughn and Mira Nair, turned down offers.[31][32] Yates believed he was approached because the studio saw him fit to handle an "edgy and emotional" film with a "political backstory", which some of his previous television projects including State of Play, Sex Traffic and The Girl in the Café demonstrated.[32] Producer David Heyman supported Yates' comments about the film's political theme, stating that "[Order of the Phoenix] is a political film, not with a capital P, but it's about teen rebellion and the abuse of power. David has made films in the UK about politics without being heavy handed."[33] On the film's political and social aspects, Emma Watson stated that "somehow it talks about life after 7 July, the way people behave when they’re scared, the way truth is often denied and all the things our society has to face. Facing the fact that the authority is corrupted means having a non-conformist approach to reality and power."[34]

text: Steve Kloves, the screenwriter of the first four Potter films, had other commitments. Michael Goldenberg, who was considered to pen the first film in the series, filled in and wrote the script.[35]

text: Rehearsals for Order of the Phoenix began on 27 January 2006, filming began on 7 February 2006 and finished at the start of December 2006.[36][37][38] Filming was put on a two-month hiatus starting in May 2006 so Radcliffe could sit his A/S Levels and Watson could sit her GCSE exams.[39] The film's budget was reportedly between GB£75 and 100 million (US$150–200 million).[4][5] The largest budget of the other films in the series has been the £75 million it cost to make Goblet of Fire.[40]

text: Mark Day was the film editor, Sławomir Idziak was the cinematographer, and Jany Temime was the costume designer.[41] Choreographer Paul Harris, who had previously worked with David Yates several times, created a physical language for wand combat to choreograph the wand fighting scenes.[42]

text: Set design[edit]

text: Stuart Craig returned as set designer, having designed the first four films' sets.[43] There were a number of notable new sets in this film. The atrium in the Ministry of Magic is over 200 feet in length, making it the largest and most expensive set built for the Potter film series to date.[43] Craig's design was inspired by early London Underground stations, where, he said, architects "tried to imitate classical architecture but they used ceramic tile", as well as a Burger King on Tottenham Court Road in London, where "there's a fantastic Victorian façade which just embodies the age".[44][45] The set of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place contains the Black family tapestry spread across three walls; when the producers told Rowling they wanted to visualise the details of each name and birth year, she faxed them a complete copy of the entire tree.[46] The set of the Hall of Prophecies was entirely digitally built. During a fight scene which occurs there, prophecies crash to the ground and break; had it been an actual physical set, the reset time would have been weeks.[47]

text: The set used for Igor Karkaroff's trial scene in Goblet of Fire was doubled in size for Harry's trial in this film, while still protecting its symmetry.[45] New professor Dolores Umbridge, though she teaches in a classroom that has appeared in films two through four, inhabits an office vastly different from those of her predecessors. The set was redressed with "fluffy, pink filigree" and a number of plates upon which moving kittens were animated in post-production.[48] A 24-hour photo shoot was held to photograph and film the kittens for use on these plates.[49] The quill which Umbridge gives Harry to write lines is designed by the set designers.[48]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Though the producers explored options to film outside of the UK, Leavesden Film Studios in Watford was again the location on which many of the interior scenes, including the Great Hall, Privet Drive and Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place were shot.[50][51][52][53]

text: Locations in England included the River Thames, for the flight of the Order of the Phoenix to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, and the flight of Dumbledore's Army to the Ministry of Magic.[54] This sequence also includes such landmarks as the London Eye, Canary Wharf, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and the HMS Belfast.[55] Filming at Platform 9¾ took place at King's Cross Station, as it has in the past.[56] A telephone booth near Scotland Yard was used as Harry and Arthur Weasley enter the Ministry,[57] while the crew closed the Westminster tube station on 22 October 2006 to allow for filming of Arthur Weasley accompanying Harry to his trial at the Ministry of Magic.[58] Other scenes were filmed in and around Oxford,[59] specifically at nearby Blenheim Palace in Woodstock.[60]

text: In Glenfinnan, the Hogwarts Express crosses a viaduct, as it has in the past films.[61] Aerial scenes were shot in Glen Coe, in Clachaig Gully,[61] and Glen Etive, which, at the time of filming, was one of the few places in Scotland without snow, making it ideal for a backdrop.[62]

text: Director David Yates stated in an interview that he had originally shot a three-hour film of Order of the Phoenix. However, some material had to be cut out in the final edit, as the movie was 45 minutes too long.[63] Therefore, several locations which were used for various scenes do not appear in the final cut of the film. In Virginia Water, scenes were shot where Professor McGonagall recovers from Stunning Spells,[64] and Burnham Beeches was used for filming the scene where Hagrid introduces his fifth-year Care of Magical Creatures class to Thestrals.[65] Harry skips stones in front of the Glenfinnan Monument in Glenfinnan in another cut scene.[61]

text: Visual effects[edit]

text: The film required over 1,400 visual effects shots, and the London-based company Double Negative created more than 950 of them. Working for six months on previsualisation starting in September 2005, Double Negative was largely responsible for sequences in the Room of Requirement, the Forbidden Forest, the Hall of Prophecies, and the Death Chamber.[66]

text: A new character in the film, Grawp, Hagrid's giant half-brother, came to life by a new technology called Soul Capturing, developed by Image Metrics. Instead of building the character from scratch, the movements and facial expressions of actor Tony Maudsley were used to model Grawp's actions.[66][67]

text: Music[edit]

text: Nicholas Hooper was the composer for the soundtrack of the film, following John Williams, who scored the first three films, and Patrick Doyle, who did the fourth. In the new score, Hooper incorporated variations on "Hedwig's Theme", the series' theme originally written by Williams for the first film and heard in all subsequent ones.[68] In March and April 2007, Hooper and the London Chamber Orchestra recorded nearly two hours of music at Abbey Road Studios in London. The score, like the film and book, is darker than previous instalments in the series. To emphasise this, the two new main themes reflect the sinister new character Dolores Umbridge, and Lord Voldemort's invasion of Harry's mind. A Japanese Taiko drum was used for a deeper sound in the percussion.[68] The soundtrack was released on 10 July 2007, the eve of the film's release.[69] For his work on the film, Hooper was nominated for a World Soundtrack Discovery Award. The trailer prominently features the cues "Divine Crusade" by X-Ray Dog and "DNA Reactor" by Pfeifer Broz. Music.

text: The film also featured the song "Boys Will Be Boys" by The Ordinary Boys.

text: Differences from the book[edit]

text: At 766 pages in the British edition and 870 in the American edition, Order of the Phoenix is the longest book in the Harry Potter series.[70] Screenwriter Michael Goldenberg described his task to cut down the novel as searching for "the best equivalent way to tell the story. My job was to stay true to the spirit of the book, rather than to the letter".[71] Goldenberg said that Rowling told him, the producers, and Yates that "she just wanted to see a great movie, and gave [them] permission to take whatever liberties [they] felt [they] needed to take to translate the book into a movie she would love".[71] Cutting down the book to meet the time frame of the film, Goldenberg explained, became "clearer when [he] figured out that the organising principle of the screenplay was to narrate Harry's emotional journey".[71] He and Yates "looked for every opportunity to get everything [they] could in there. And where [they] couldn't, to sort of pay homage to it, to have it somewhere in the background or to feel like it could be taking place off-screen".[72]

text: One cut Goldenberg had to make, which he "hated" to do, was the absence of Quidditch, the Wizarding sport.[72] "The truth is that any movie made of this book, whoever made it, that had included the Quidditch subplot would have been a lesser film", he said.[71] In the book, Ron grows as a character by trying out for the Quidditch team. "Ron facing challenges and coming into his own in the same way that Harry is, we tried to get that into the film in other ways, as much as possible. So, you feel like, if not the details of that story, at least the spirit of it is present in the film".[71] The change disappointed actor Rupert Grint who had been "quite looking forward to the Quidditch stuff".[73][not in citation given]

text: In a significant scene in the book, Harry sees a memory of his own father humiliating Snape in their school days, and Snape insulting his mother after she stood up for him. In the film, it is abbreviated to an "idea", in Goldenberg's words. "It's an iconic moment when you realise your parents are normal, flawed human beings. ... Things get trimmed out, but I kept the meat of that in there – and that was what really gave me the coming-of-age story."[71] Young Lily Potter did not appear at all, but promotional screenshots show unknown teenager Susie Shinner in the role.[74]

text: The scene at St Mungo's, the hospital where Harry and friends run into classmate Neville Longbottom and learn that his parents were tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange, was cut because it required the construction of a new set.[71] The main purpose of the action of the scene was relocated to the Room of Requirement after one of Dumbledore's Army's lessons. Also, to speed up the film's climax, several events in the Ministry leading up to Harry's battle with Voldemort were removed, including the brain room.[70] Mrs. Weasley's encounter with a boggart at Grimmauld Place, Ron, Hermione and Malfoy becoming prefects, the appearance of Mundungus Fletcher, and Firenze teaching Divination followed suit.[73]

text: The character of Kreacher the house-elf, who was included in the script only at Rowling's request, has a larger part in the book than the film. In the novel, he is seen saving some of the Black family's artefacts which the Order of the Phoenix throw away, one of which is a locket which becomes extremely important in the seventh book.[75] "It was kind of tricky to raise that in our story, because it's for so much later", Yates said. "We figured we can probably introduce it later, and that's the approach we took".[25] Whilst Kreacher remained, all scenes involving Dobby were cut, and his important actions given to other characters.[70]

text: Rita Skeeter, the journalist played by Miranda Richardson in Goblet of Fire, was also removed. In the book, Hermione blackmails her into writing an article that supports Harry as the rest of the Wizarding world denies his claims.[70] Richardson noted that "it's never gonna be the book on film, exactly. ... They'll take certain aspects from the book and make it something that they hope is going to be commercial and that people want to see".[76]

text: Distribution[edit]

text: Marketing[edit]

text: The first trailer was released on 17 November 2006, attached to another WB film, Happy Feet. It was made available online on 20 November 2006, on the Happy Feet website.[77] The international trailer debuted online on 22 April 2007 at 14:00 UTC.[78] On 4 May 2007, the US trailer was shown before Spider-Man 3.[79]

text: Three posters released on the Internet that showed Harry accompanied by six classmates, including Hermione Granger, generated some controversy by the media. They were essentially the same picture, though one advertised the IMAX release. In one poster, the profile of Hermione, played by Emma Watson, was made curvier as the outline of her breasts was enhanced. Melissa Anelli, webmistress of noted fan site The Leaky Cauldron, wrote:[80]

text: Emma Watson is playing a 15-year-old girl, and she herself is under 18. I get the full heebie jeebies thinking about the person who sat there thinking, 'Now, if we cinch her waist a bit, and inflate her bust a bit, and give her some dramatic lighting and more blonde hair, this would be a much better picture.'

text: Representatives for WB later wrote about the poster under fire, "This is not an official poster. Unfortunately this image was accidentally posted on the IMAX website".[81]

text: The video game version, designed by EA UK, was released 25 June 2007.[82] Lego produced just one set, a model of Hogwarts, the lowest amount of sets for a film so far.[83][84] NECA produced a series of action figures,[85] while a larger array of smaller figures was also produced by PopCo Entertainment, a Corgi International company.[86]

text: Theatrical release[edit]

text: The film was the third Harry Potter film to be given a simultaneous release in conventional theatres and IMAX. The IMAX release featured the full movie in 2D and the final 20 minutes of the film in 3D.[87] According to estimates in March 2007, by Warner Bros., the film would debut on over 10,000 theatre screens during the summer.[88]

text: The film was released in most countries in a two-week period starting 11 July 2007. WB has tried to stick with day-and-date releases for most countries, except the Middle East and a few minor markets which were to be in holidays at that point. The set of summer releases, even though the films are typically released in the winter, "really maximises our opportunity", said a representative for WB.[88]

text: Previews of the film began in March 2007 in the Chicago area.[89] Under tight security to prevent piracy, WB had security guards patrol the aisles, looking for cell phone cameras or small recording devices, at a preview in Japan.[90] The world premiere took place in Tokyo, Japan on 28 June 2007.[91] MySpace users could bring copies of their online profiles to gain free admission to sneak previews in eight different cities across the country on 28 June 2007.[92] The UK premiere took place on 3 July 2007 in London's Odeon Leicester Square, during which author J. K. Rowling made a public appearance.[93] The US premiere took place on 8 July in Los Angeles.[94] After the premiere, the three young stars of the film series, Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson, were honoured with a ceremony where their handprints, footprints, and "wandprints" were placed in the cement in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre.[95]

text: Originally, Warner Bros. set the Australian release date as 6 September 2007, nearly two months after the majority of other release dates. However, after complaints from the Australian community, including a petition garnering 2,000 signatures the date was pulled back to 11 July 2007.[96] The release dates of the film in the UK and US were also moved back, both from 13 July, to 12 and 11 July, respectively.[97][98]

text: Even though the book is the longest in the series (over 700 pages), the film is 138 minutes long (2 hours and 18 minutes), the second shortest in the entire film series.[99]

text: Home media[edit]

text: The DVDs included additional scenes, a feature showing a day in the life of Natalia Tena, who played Nymphadora Tonks, an A&E documentary about the films and books, and a featurette on film editing in Phoenix. The DVD-ROM features a timeline and a sneak peek of the next film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009). The HD DVD and Blu-ray contain additional features, such as the "in-movie experience", a video commentary in which members of Dumbledore's Army share their favourite moments from the production of the film, and "focus points" featurettes on how certain scenes of the film were made.[100][101] The HD DVD also includes an exclusive feature called "community screening", which enables owners of the HD DVD to watch the film together over the Internet.[102] Order of the Phoenix was the seventh best-selling DVD of 2007, with 10.14 million units.[103] The high-definition DVDs had combined sales of 179,500 copies,[103] with more units coming from the Blu-ray version.[104]

text: There was also a third DVD with extras featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the sets of the movie. This can only be found in those purchased at Target stores (Future Shop in Canada) since it is a Target exclusive. The package included a one-time-only code that activated a digital copy of the film, which may be played on a computer with Windows Media Player. The digital copy, however, is not playable on Macintosh or Apple Inc. iPod devices. This issue was partially addressed, with the film being made available on the iTunes Store in the UK but not the US.[105]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: The film opened to a worldwide 5-day opening of $333 million, the fourteenth-biggest opening of all time. In the United States, tickets for hundreds of midnight showings of the film, bought from online ticket-seller Fandango, were sold out, making up approximately 90% of the site's weekly ticket sales.[106] In the US and Canada, midnight screenings (very early morning on 11 July) brought in $12 million[107] from 2,311 midnight exhibitions making the showings "the most successful batch of midnight exhibitions ever".[108] In one-night earnings, Phoenix is behind only At World's End, which had debuted four hours earlier on its date.[109] In studio documents leaked in July 2010, it was revealed the film lost Warner Bros. about $167 million.[110][111]

text: In North America, Phoenix earned an additional $32.2 million on Wednesday, post-midnight showings, making it the biggest single-day Wednesday gross in box office history, with a total of $44.2 million from 4,285 theatres.[112][113] That amount topped Sony Pictures' Spider-Man 2, which held the record since 2004 with its $40.4 million take on a Wednesday, until this record was broken in 2009 by Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen with $62 million.[114] It was also the fifth-biggest opening day for a movie in history, at the time, surpassing At World's End's $42.9 million. It earned $1.9 million from a record-breaking 91 IMAX screens, the highest opening day ever for any IMAX day of the week, beating Spider-Man 3's $1.8 million. In the UK the result was similar. The film made £16.5 million during its opening 4-day run, breaking the UK box office record for the biggest 4-day opening weekend ever.[115]

text: Phoenix's gross is at $292 million in the US and Canada, making it the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2007 in these regions,[116] and at £49.2 million,[117] or $101.4 million in the UK[118] Overseas, it has grossed $647.8 million, the seventh-highest grosser ever overseas,[119] for a worldwide total of $939.8 million[3] making it the second-highest-grossing film of the year closely behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End's $963 million gross.[120] It became the sixth-highest-grossing film in history at the time, the second-highest-grossing Potter film worldwide,[121] and the second Potter film to break the $900 million mark.[122] As of March 2018, it is the 44th-highest-grossing film of all time[123] as well as the fourth-highest-grossing Potter film in the franchise behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2's $1.341 billion,[124] Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone's $974 million,[citation needed] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1's $960 million[125] and the highest-grossing 2007 film in Australia and the UK.[126][127] IMAX Corporation and Warner Bros. Pictures announced that the film has made over $35 million on IMAX screens, worldwide, with an impressive per-screen average of $243,000 making it the highest-grossing live-action IMAX release in history.[128] In South Africa the film opened at number 1 with a total of $944,082.00, being screened at 87 theatres.[129]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 78% based on 244 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "It's not easy to take the longest Harry Potter book and streamline it into the shortest HP movie, but director David Yates does a bang up job of it, creating an Order of the Phoenix that's entertaining and action-packed."[131] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 71 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews"[132] On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.[133]

text: Charles Frederick of The Telegraph headlined his review "Potter film is the best and darkest yet".[134] Colin Bertram of the New York Daily News gave the film four out of four stars, calling it the best Potter film yet and wrote that "die-hard Potter addicts will rejoice that Yates has distilled J. K. Rowling's broad universe with care and reverence".[135] Mark Adams of The Sunday Mirror, while giving the film four out of five stars, called it "a dark and delicious delight [and] a must-see movie".[136] Rene Rodriguez of The Miami Herald gave the film three stars out of four and wrote that the film "is the first instalment in the soon-to-be series-of-seven that doesn't seem like just another spinoff capitalising on the money-minting Harry Potter brand name. Instead, Phoenix feels like a real 'movie'".[137]

text: Imelda Staunton's performance as Dolores Umbridge and Helena Bonham Carter's as Bellatrix Lestrange were widely acclaimed; Staunton was described as the "perfect choice for the part" and "one of the film's greatest pleasures", "coming close to stealing the show".[138] The Daily Mail described Staunton's portrayal of Umbridge as a "refreshing addition", with the character herself described as "a cross between Margaret Thatcher and Hyacinth Bucket".[139] Bonham Carter was said to be a "shining but underused talent".[140] Variety praised Alan Rickman's portrayal of Severus Snape, writing that he "may have outdone himself; seldom has an actor done more with less than he does here".[141] Newcomer Evanna Lynch, playing Luna Lovegood, also received good word from a number of reviewers including the New York Times who declared her "spellbinding".[142]

text: Peter Travers of Rolling Stone also lauded the three principal actors' achievements, especially Radcliffe: "One of the joys of this film is watching Daniel Radcliffe grow so impressively into the role of Harry. He digs deep into the character and into Harry's nightmares. It's a sensational performance, touching all the bases from tender to fearful". Rolling Stone's review also classified the film as better than the previous four instalments in the series, by losing the "candy-ass aspect" of the first two and "raising the bar" from the "heat and resonance" of the third and fourth.[143] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called the film "the best of the series so far, [with] the laughs, the jitters and the juice to make even nonbelievers wild about Harry".[143]

text: Leo Lewis of The Times (London) expressed disappointment that the three main actors were not able to fully advance the emotional sides of their respective characters, weakening the film.[140] The San Francisco Chronicle complained about a "lousy" storyline, alleging that the first twenty minutes of the film, when Harry is put on trial for performing magic outside of school and threatened with expulsion, but is cleared of all charges, did not advance the plot.[144] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Phoenix is "quite possibly the least enjoyable of the [series] so far", and that despite "several eye-catching moments", "the magic – movie magic, that is – is mostly missing". The review also criticised the under use of the "cream of British acting", noting the brief appearances of Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith, Emma Thompson, David Thewlis, Richard Griffiths, and Julie Walters.[145]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: Before it was released, Order of the Phoenix was nominated in a new category at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards, Best Summer Movie You Haven't Seen Yet.[146] On 26 August 2007, the film won the award for Choice Summer Movie – Drama/Action Adventure at the Teen Choice Awards.[147]

text: The film was also nominated for several awards at the 2007 Scream Awards presented by Spike TV, in the categories of The Ultimate Scream, Best Fantasy Movie, and Best Sequel. Daniel Radcliffe was nominated in the Fantasy Hero categories, respectively.[148] The film won for Best Sequel and Ralph Fiennes won for "Most Vile Villain".[149] The film picked up three awards at the inaugural ITV National Movie Awards, taking Best Family Film, Best Actor for Radcliffe and Best Actress for Emma Watson.[150] The film was one of ten nominees for a 2007 Hollywood Movie of the Year.[151] It was also nominated for Best Live Action Family Film at the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards[152] and won the 2007 People's Choice Award for "Favorite Movie Drama".[153] Having been nominated for six awards at the 13th Empire Awards, organised by Empire, including Best Film, David Yates won Best Director.[154] Yates later received the BAFTA Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing for his four Harry Potter films, which includes Order of the Phoenix.[155]

text: Nicholas Hooper received a nomination for a World Soundtrack Discovery Award for his score to the film.[156] Imelda Staunton was nominated in the "British Actress in a Supporting Role" category at the London Film Critics Circle Awards.[157] At the 2008 BAFTA Awards, the film was nominated for "Best Production Design" and "Best Special Visual Effects".[158] Order of the Phoenix was also nominated for the awards from the Art Directors Guild and Costume Designers Guild,[159][160] and was awarded for "Outstanding Special Effects in a Motion Picture" by the Visual Effects Society out of six nominations.[161] The British Academy Children's Awards (BAFTA) nominated Order of the Phoenix for Best Feature Film in 2007[162] and the Hugo Awards nominated the film for Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form) in 2008.[163]


document_title: Rock Star (2001 film)

question_text: who sang the vocals for the movie rockstar

root

text: Rock Star (2001 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: In the mid-1980s, Chris Cole (Mark Wahlberg) is a Pittsburgh fanatical admirer of a heavy metal band called Steel Dragon. By day, Chris is a photocopier technician and by night, he is the lead singer of a Steel Dragon tribute band called Blood Pollution (the name is taken from a Steel Dragon song).

tag: p

text: Internal struggles among the actual Steel Dragon band members culminate with the firing of their lead singer, Bobby Beers (Jason Flemyng), and the beginning of recruitment sessions to find a new vocalist. Chris experiences his own strife with his Blood Pollution bandmates, particularly guitarist Rob Malcolm (Timothy Olyphant). During a live performance, Rob's playing fails to live up to Chris' over-demanding standards regarding note-for-note accuracy to the original Steel Dragon recordings, and Chris sabotages Rob's amplifier mid-song - a fight breaks out between the two onstage. The next day, Chris meets Blood Pollution at a rehearsal session, but he finds out that he has been replaced with his arch-rival, the (now former) lead singer of another Steel Dragon tribute band. Rob also cites Chris' inability to create his own musical style, preferring to remain the singer in a tribute band.

text: One day, Chris receives an unexpected phone call from Steel Dragon's founder and rhythm guitarist, Kirk Cuddy (Dominic West), and is offered an audition for the band (thanks to two of Blood Pollution's groupies, who showed Kirk a videotape of one of Blood Pollution's concerts). After hanging up on Kirk once, thinking he's being pranked by Rob, Chris ecstatically agrees. At the studio, he meets the band, as well as learning that Bobby Beers was fired because he was a closeted homosexual, and gives an outstanding performance of "We All Die Young" (a Steel Dragon song in the movie, but it is actually a song by Steelheart, whose lead vocalist Miljenko Matijevic provides Cole's singing voice for the film). Chris joins the band as their new singer, adopting the stage name "Izzy". Following a successful debut concert with Steel Dragon, Izzy must come to grips with the pressures of his new-found fame and success. The band embarks on a lengthy tour and Izzy experiences the excesses of the lifestyle, with the group's manager, Mats (Timothy Spall), serving as a sympathetic mentor to Izzy.

text: His new lifestyle impacts his life both for better and worse, particularly with his relationship with his supportive girlfriend, Emily Poule (Jennifer Aniston), when she decides not to continue with him throughout the remainder of the tour as a rock star girlfriend, though Emily and Izzy agree to get back together when the tour reaches Seattle. Eventually, Steel Dragon stops in Seattle for a show, and Emily arrives at his hotel room as they had previously arranged, although Izzy had become so inebriated while on tour he forgot about the arrangement and did not even know what city he was in. Although taken aback by all the groupies, Emily still tries to reconnect with him, reminding him of their plans to meet up once he got to Seattle, however he is too intoxicated to really understand what she is saying, eventually suggesting they go to Seattle together. Heartbroken with his inconsiderate behavior, intoxication and the fact that he is sleeping with so many groupies, Emily leaves him.

text: After the end of the tour, Izzy reports to the next series of Steel Dragon recording sessions with song concepts and artwork for the band's next album. The rest of the band rejects Izzy's ideas, with Kirk explaining that the band has to stay true to the "Steel Dragon thing" to fulfill fan expectations. Izzy is angered upon realizing that he was only recruited for his vocal abilities. After a heartfelt conversation with Mats about how he feared he had no control over the direction life has taken him, Izzy begins to reconsider his rock star lifestyle. On the next tour, in a scene directly paralleling one near the beginning of the film with their roles reversed, Izzy hears a fan (Myles Kennedy) singing along with him toward the end of a live concert. Impressed, Izzy pulls the fan, who introduces himself as Thor, onstage and hands him the microphone to finish the concert. Backstage, Izzy realizes that what he wanted for so long was not what he thought, and he says goodbye to Mats, departing from the band while doing so.

text: Upon ditching his stage name, Izzy, Chris makes his way to Seattle and starts a new band with his old friend and former bandmate Rob. At the same time Steel Dragon, failing to evolve to the changing tastes and styles of the 1990s, has its fame fizzle out. Chris finds Emily working in the coffee shop she and her roommate purchased a few years earlier, but is initially too ashamed to speak to her. While walking one evening, Emily sees a flyer for his band posted on the wall and takes it down. In the final scene, Chris is singing with his band in a bar and Emily walks in. Chris leaves the stage and speaks to her. They reconcile, ending the film with a kiss and the final note of Chris' first original song "Colorful" (which is actually a song by The Verve Pipe).

text: During the credits, Cuddy talks about the future of the band and Beers is shown to have taken up Irish Dancing after leaving Steel Dragon.

text: Cast[edit]

text: The band members are portrayed by ex-Dokken and current Foreigner bassist Jeff Pilson, Black Label Society founder & Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, actor Dominic West, and ex-Foreigner and Black Country Communion drummer Jason Bonham (the son of the late John Bonham, drummer for Led Zeppelin). Myles Kennedy, who was at the time the lead vocalist of The Mayfield Four and now the frontman of Alter Bridge and Slash's solo project, makes a cameo appearance.

text: The singing voice for Wahlberg's character was provided by Steelheart frontman Miljenko Matijevic for the Steel Dragon Songs, the final number was dubbed by Brian Vander Ark. Jeff Scott Soto (of Talisman, Yngwie Malmsteen, Soul Sirkus, and Journey) provided the voice of the singer Wahlberg's character replaces. Kennedy is the only actor whose actual voice is used.[citation needed]. Ralph Saenz (Steel Panther) also appears briefly, as the singer auditioning ahead of Chris at the studio.

text: Blood Pollution (Chris Cole's former band and a Steel Dragon tribute band) is also made up of known musical artists, including guitarist Nick Catanese (Black Label Society), drummer Blas Elias (Slaughter), and bassist Brian Vander Ark (The Verve Pipe, who also contributed a song to the film's soundtrack). Actor Timothy Olyphant portrays Blood Pollution's guitarist, Rob Malcolm. Bradley, the singer who replaces Chris in Blood Pollution, is played by Third Eye Blind frontman Stephan Jenkins.

text:
Blood Pollution

Mark Wahlberg as Chris "Izzy" Cole (Lead vocals)
Jennifer Aniston as Emily Poule (Manager)
Timothy Olyphant as Rob Malcolm (Guitar)
Blas Elias as Donny Johnson (Drums)
Nick Catanese as Xander Cummins (Guitar)
Brian Vander Ark as Ricki Bell (Bass)

Steel Dragon

Jason Flemyng as Bobby Beers (Lead Vocals)
Timothy Spall as Mats (Road Manager)
Dominic West as Kirk Cuddy (Rhythm Guitar)
Jason Bonham as A.C. (Drums)
Zakk Wylde as Ghode (Lead Guitar)
Jeff Pilson as Jörgen (Bass)

Spouses

Kara Zediker as Marci (Rob's girlfriend)
Heidi Mark as Kirk's wife
Rachel Hunter as A.C.'s wife
Carrie Stevens as Ghode's wife
Amy Miller as Jörgen's wife

Others

Dagmara Dominczyk as Tania Asher
Stephan Jenkins as Bradley
Michael Shamus Wiles as Joe Cole Sr
Beth Grant as Tess Cole
Matthew Glave as Joe Cole Jr
Myles Kennedy as Mike / Thor
Ralph Saenz as Ralph
Carey Lessard as Nina
Kristin Richardson as Samantha

tag: table

text: Production[edit]

text: After The New York Times ran a story on Tim "Ripper" Owens in 1997, various Hollywood studios ran to option the filming rights. Warner Bros. won the bid, and hired John Stockwell to write the script. Stockwell soon started researching on the heavy metal music and tribute bands scene, and visited Owens' hometown of Akron, Ohio.[3] Afterwards the project, under the working title Metal God, got the involvement of George Clooney's newly founded Maysville Pictures.[4] Brad Pitt signed to star in 1998, but wound up dropping the project following creative differences with the studio.[5] Eventually Mark Wahlberg, a former rapper with Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch who co-starred with Clooney in Three Kings, was hired for the main role in May 1999.[6] Stephen Herek signed to direct in October,[7] and the following month Jennifer Aniston became attached for the main female role, while Callie Khouri was hired to revise the script.[8]

text: Wahlberg spent five months preparing for his role as Chris Cole, working with a vocal coach, growing his hair, attending the metal scene and wandering around Los Angeles in-character.[9] A concert scene was shot at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena before 10,000 Metallica and Megadeth fans.[10] While filming one Steel Dragon performance, the crew pranked Wahlberg by playing Marky Mark's "Good Vibrations" instead of a rock track, and footage of this is featured during the film's end credits.[11] By 2001, Warner renamed the project from Metal God to Rock Star in order to attract a broader rock fandom instead of just metal fans.[12]

text: Reception[edit]

text: The film opened at #4 at the U.S. box office raking in US$6,018,636 in its opening weekend,[13] and grossing a domestic total of $17,008,282 and $2,325,863 internationally for a worldwide gross of $19,334,145; based on a $57 million budget, Rock Star was a box office bomb.[14]

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 52% "Rotten" score, with the consensus "Like its title, Rock Star is rather generic, being not so much about the heavy metal scene than about rock cliches and formula".[15] On another aggregator, Metacritic, the film is rated 54 based on 32 reviews.[16]

text: When Judas Priest bassist Ian Hill was asked about his reaction to Rock Star in an interview in PopMatters magazine Hill responded "Well, it was a true work of fiction, you know? When we heard about the production company were going to make a movie based, as far as we knew, about Ripper joining the band we offered our help. We said 'If there's anything you want to know, talk to us at the time.' And certainly our communication was cut off and that was it and they went off on their own tangent." Hill added "I mean, I quite enjoyed the movie. It was entertaining, you know?" Hill was quoted as saying "It had nothing to do with Rob Halford, Ripper Owens and Judas Priest, it's got nothing to do with that, whatsoever. It was fiction. Apart from the fact that 'Local Boy Makes Good'? That was the only true aspect of the movie." Hill was quick to add "I watched it once. I don’t have the urge to watch it again. "[17]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
Rock Star

Soundtrack album by Various Artists

Released
August 28, 2001

Label
Priority

text:
Professional ratings

Review scores

Source
Rating

AllMusic
[18]

text: A small number of the songs featured in the film and on the soundtrack were released after the dates given in the film. They are marked with an asterisk.

text:
No.
Title
Artist
Length

1.
"Rock Star" (Art Alexakis)
Everclear
3:30

2.
"Livin' the Life" (Steve Plunkett, Peter Beckett)
Steel Dragon
3:14

3.
"Wild Side*" (Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee)
Mötley Crüe
4:34

4.
"We All Die Young" (Miljenko Matijevic, Kenny Kanowski)
Steel Dragon
4:01

5.
"Blood Pollution" (Twiggy Ramirez)
Steel Dragon
3:59

6.
"Livin' on a Prayer*" (Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Desmond Child)
Bon Jovi
4:08

7.
"Stand Up" (Sammy Hagar)
Steel Dragon
4:18

8.
"Stranglehold" (Ted Nugent)
Ted Nugent
8:23

9.
"Wasted Generation" (Desmond Child, A.Allen (Ajay Popoff), J. Allen (Jeremy Popoff))
Steel Dragon
2:54

10.
"Lick It Up" (Paul Stanley, Vinnie Vincent)
KISS
3:56

11.
"Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" (Ronnie James Dio, Ritchie Blackmore)
Rainbow
3:27

12.
"Devil Inside*" (Andrew Farriss, Michael Hutchence)
INXS
5:13

13.
"Colorful" (Brian Vander Ark)
The Verve Pipe
4:25

14.
"Gotta Have It" (Trevor Rabin)
Trevor Rabin
2:57

Total length:
58:59

text: Partial list of songs that were featured in the movie but did not appear on the soundtrack CD:

text:
AC/DC - "Are You Ready"*
Culture Club - "Karma Chameleon"
Def Leppard - "Let's Get Rocked"*
Def Leppard - "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)"
Foghat - "Chateau Lafitte '59 Boogie"
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - "Relax"
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch - "Good Vibrations"
Ralph Saenz, Peter Beckett, and Steve Plunkett - "California Girls" (The Beach Boys cover)
Talking Heads - "Once in a Lifetime"
Steel Dragon - "Reckless" (Phoenix Down cover)

tag: ul


document_title: The Plain Dealer

question_text: when did the plain dealer begin their first publication

text: The Plain Dealer

text: History and ownership[edit]

text: The newspaper was established in 1842, less than 50 years after Moses Cleaveland landed on the banks of the Cuyahoga River in The Flats, and is currently owned by Advance Publications (Newhouse Newspapers).[5] The Plain Dealer Publishing Company is under the direction of George Rodrigue (president). The paper employs over 700 people.

text: The newspaper was sold on March 1, 1967, to S.I. Newhouse's newspaper chain, and has been under the control of the Newhouse family ever since.[6] The paper was previously held by the trusts of the Holden estate, and operated as The Plain Dealer Publishing Company, part of the Forest City Publishing Company, which also published the Cleveland News until its purchase and subsequent closing by its major competitor, the Cleveland Press, owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, in 1960.[7]

text: On December 18, 2005, The Plain Dealer ceased publication of its weekly Sunday Magazine, which had been published uninterrupted for over 85 years.[8] The demise of the paper's Sunday Magazine was attributed to the high cost of newsprint and declining revenue, and the PD reassigned the editors, designers and reporters to other areas of the newspaper. It also assured readers that the stories that would formerly have appeared in the Sunday Magazine would be integrated into other areas of the paper.

text: On the morning of Wednesday, July 31, 2013, nearly a third of the newsroom staff was eliminated through layoffs and voluntary resignations. The Plain Dealer's corporate owner, New York-based Advance Publications Inc., a private company run by the heirs of S.I. Newhouse, under a strategy to focus more on online news delivery, had been cutting staff and publication schedules. Previously, in December 2012, under an agreement with the Newspaper Guild, nearly two dozen union newsroom staff voluntarily accepted severance packages.[9] The July round of layoffs led to accusations by the Guild that management had misled the union by cutting more employees than had been agreed upon.[10]

text: On August 5, 2013, the Northeast Ohio Media Group launched and The Plain Dealer Publishing Company was formed. Northeast Ohio Media Group operates cleveland.com and Sun Newspapers (also known as the Sun News suburban papers) and is responsible for all multimedia ad sales and marketing for The Plain Dealer, Sun News and cleveland.com. It also provides content to The Plain Dealer, cleveland.com and Sun News. The Plain Dealer Publishing Company provides content and publishes in print seven days a week. The company also provides production, distribution, finance, information technology, accounting and other support services for the Plain Dealer Publishing Co. and Northeast Ohio Media Group.

text: Awards and honors[edit]

text:
1953 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning (Edward D. Kuekes).
2005 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary (Connie Schultz).[11][12][13][14]
2003 Editor & Publisher Editor of the Year Award (Doug Clifton)
12-time Ohio News Photographer's Association Award recipient (2001-2011, 2013).[15][16]
Nine-time Ohio Associated Press General Excellence Award winner:

1994 (Division IV)
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012 (Division V)[17][18]

Two-time Ohio Associated Press First Amendment Award recipient (2001, 2004)[19]
Numerous other AP Awards in various individual and specific categories (Division V)[20]

text: Pricing, distribution, circulation[edit]

text: The daily paper costs $1.50 and the Sunday/Thanksgiving Day edition is $2.25 at newsstands/newsracks. The full subscription weekly price is $4.65. These prices only apply to The Plain Dealer's home delivery area, which are the Northeast Ohio counties of Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Portage, Erie, Ottawa, Summit, Ashtabula, Medina and Lorain. The Plain Dealer is available all over the state at select newsstands, including in the state capital, Columbus, and anywhere in the US or world via US mail service, in which prices are higher. The newspaper reported daily readership of 543,110 and Sunday readership of 858,376 as of October, 2013.[2]

text: Effective August 5, 2013, home delivery was reduced to four days a week; a "premium" (full) edition on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, and a bonus version on Saturday.[21] Subscribers to the three premium editions have access to a digital version seven days a week, which is an exact replica of the morning's paper.[22] A print edition is still available daily at stores, newsracks and newsstands.[22]

text: Bureaus[edit]

text: The Plain Dealer formerly operated a variety of news bureaus. By the middle of 2014, both the state capital bureau in Columbus and the Washington bureau were shifted to the Northeast Ohio Media Group, as shown by the affiliations of their bureau chiefs. [23][24]

text: Major sections[edit]

text: The Plain Dealer is organized into several major sections, depending on the day of the week. The Sunday edition is, as with any major U.S. daily newspaper, the largest edition of the week. The current organization took effect August 5, 2013.

text: Major sections printed in most editions include:

text: All editions[edit]

text: Weekly features[edit]

text: Discontinued sections[edit]

text: Design[edit]

text: The Plain Dealer employs a modern styling of a daily newspaper, but has undergone dramatic stylistic changes in the past few years to update the print edition's look. Weekday and Sunday editions regularly feature front pages with content boxes on the upper part of the page detailing news inside. The physical width of the paper has been reduced in recent years as well, a trend throughout the newspaper industry.

text: Criticism and controversies[edit]

text: Political leanings[edit]

text: The Plain Dealer has been criticized by liberal columnists for staking out generally conservative positions on its editorial page, despite serving a predominantly Democratic readership base. In 2004, the editorial board voted to endorse John Kerry; after publisher Alex Machaskee overruled it, ordering the board to write an endorsement of George W. Bush, editorial page editor Brent Larkin managed to talk Machaskee into withholding an endorsement.[26] The news coverage is generally more neutral, with national and international news often culled from wire services, including the New York Times'.

text: The paper had also been accused of being too soft on Sen. George Voinovich, and in the 2004 election cycle for the U.S. Senate, not providing fair coverage, if any, to Voinovich's opponent, State Sen. Eric Fingerhut, a Democrat.[27]

text: Publishing concealed weapons permit holder lists[edit]

text: In 2005, the newspaper twice published lists of concealed weapon permit holders from the 5 counties around Cleveland. Editor Doug Clifton defended the paper's decision, sparking a feud with a pro-carry lobbyist group. State Senator Steve Austria called it abuse of the media access privilege, saying publishing these names would threaten the safety of the men and women who obtain these permits. An Ohio gun rights group then published Clifton's home address and phone number.[28]

text: "Held stories" controversy[edit]

text: Wikinews has related news: Newspaper refuses to utilize leaked documents in article

text: The Plain Dealer made national headlines in the summer of 2005, when editor Douglas Clifton announced that the newspaper was withholding two stories "of profound importance" after Judith Miller of The New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time Magazine were ordered to reveal confidential sources who had provided information on Joseph Wilson's wife being a CIA operative. The decision to compel the reporters to reveal sources was seen in the news media as a license to go after reporters and newspapers in the courtroom for not revealing confidential informants and a violation of the trust between reporter and said informants. Clifton was vilified in the news media as "having no backbone" and he himself even admitted that people could refer to him as "chickenshit." Clifton told the national press that while he and the reporters involved in the story were willing to be jailed for not revealing sources, the legal department of the Plain Dealer Publishing Company was worried that the newspaper itself would be sued and strongly opposed the printing of the stories. "Talking isn't an option and jail is too high a price to pay", Clifton said.[29]

text: The controversy ended when the Cleveland Scene, an alternative weekly Cleveland newspaper, published a similar story, thus allowing The Plain Dealer to print the withheld story. The story turned out to be on former Mayor Michael R. White's federal corruption probe, which was leaked to the press by an attorney on the case. The second withheld story has yet to be revealed.[30]

text: Music critic sidelined[edit]

text: On September 17, 2008, The Plain Dealer's music critic of 16 years, Donald Rosenberg, was told by the paper's editor, Susan Goldberg, that he would no longer be covering performances of the Cleveland Orchestra. Rosenberg had been critical of orchestral performances under its conductor Franz Welser-Möst, although his reviews of Welser-Möst as a conductor of operas had been positive. Terrance C. Z. Egger, president and publisher of the paper, is also on the orchestra's board.[31]

text: Welser-Möst is no stranger to robust criticism; during his tenure at the London Philharmonic Orchestra London critics gave him the nickname "Frankly Worse than Most".[32] In December 2008, Rosenberg sued Cleveland's Musical Arts Association, the newspaper and several members of their staffs, alleging a conspiracy to have him demoted.[33] Rosenberg dropped a number of claims against the paper in 2009,[34] and in August, 2009, a jury rejected the remaining claims.[35]

text: Shirley Strickland Saffold[edit]

text: In March 2010, the Plain Dealer reported that approximately 80 comments had been posted to articles on its web site by an account registered to the email address of Shirley Strickland Saffold, a judge sitting on the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.[36] Several of the comments, posted under the pseudonym lawmiss, discussed matters that were or had been before the judge.[36] Although the judge's 23-year-old daughter Sydney Saffold took responsibility for the postings, the paper was able to use a public records request and determine that the exact times and dates of some of the postings corresponded to the times that the corresponding articles were being viewed on the judge's court-issued computer.[36] The revelation led one attorney, who had been criticized in the postings, to request the judge recuse herself from a homicide trial in which he represented the defendant.[37] Ohio Supreme Court Acting Chief Justice Paul E. Pfeifer subsequently removed Saffold from the case.[38]

text: In April, the judge sued the paper, its editor Susan Goldberg, and affiliated companies for $50 million, claiming violation of its privacy policy.[37] In December 2010, Saffold dropped the suit against the newspaper, and reached settlement with Advance Internet, the Plain Dealer affiliate that ran the newspaper's website.[39] The terms of the settlement were undisclosed, but included a charitable contribution in the name of Saffold's mother.[39]

text: Removal of debate video[edit]

text: In October 2014, the Northeast Ohio Media Group hosted the three Ohio candidates for governor in what would be their only joint appearance. The debate was held before the NEOMG's editorial board (which also serves as the editorial board of The Plain Dealer) and NEOMG reporters. Incumbent Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, showed up at the debate without a tie and largely ignored his main rival, Democrat Ed FitzGerald. Kasich went so far as to refuse to admit he could hear the questions of FitzGerald, who was sitting next to him, and instead insisted that a reporter repeat them.[40]

text: During the debate, a video camera was positioned eight feet in front of the candidates. The resulting video was posted on cleveland.com. A few days later, however, it was removed.[41] When other sites posted copies of the now-deleted video, the NEOMG sent letters threatening legal action.[42] The NEOMG's actions drew coverage from other media organizations[43][44] and criticism from media observers, particularly because Chris Quinn, the NEOMG vice president who sent the letters, declined all requests for comment.[45][46]

text: At 7 a.m. on the day after the election, which Kasich—endorsed by the NEOMG—won easily, the news organization posted online an explanation of events written by its reader representative. The column cited this as Quinn's explanation: Shortly after the video was posted, the Kasich campaign contacted him and said it had not been aware a video would be posted online. Quinn eventually decided that his failure to explicitly explain the presence of a video camera was unfair. Further, "I thought that if I stated my reasons, the obvious next step would be people going to the candidates and asking them if they had any objection to putting the video back up," Quinn is quoted as saying. "That would mean my error could put people into an uncomfortable situation."[47] The explanation left at least some critics unsatisfied.[48][49]

text: cleveland.com[edit]

text: The Plain Dealer is the major news contributor to cleveland.com, the regional news, event and communication portal run by Advance Digital via Northeast Ohio Media Group. The paper does not operate its own editorial website. Northeast Ohio Media Group runs a separate website for the business side of the newspaper, including advertising. cleveland.com also features news from the Sun Newspapers, which are a group of smaller, weekly, more suburban-oriented newspapers in the Greater Cleveland metro area also owned by Advance Publications. The Sun Newspapers are the largest chain of paid weekly newspapers in the country.

text: The quality of the site (as well as other Advance Internet sites) has been criticized by the staff, newsroom staff and locals.[50]

text: Politifact Ohio[edit]

text: In July 2010, The Plain Dealer launched Politifact Ohio, a website that analyzes issues relevant to Ohio and the greater Cleveland area. The feature was produced in conjunction with its creator, the Tampa Bay Times. Four years later, the relationship was ended. Although the operation had generated criticism, the decision to drop it was attributed instead to a desire to keep all content on cleveland.com rather than the separate PolitiFact Ohio site, which remains available as an archive.[51]


document_title: Elections in Pakistan

question_text: when was the first election held in pakistan

text: Elections in Pakistan

text: Electoral system[edit]

text: In law and Constitution[edit]

text: The Constitution of Pakistan more broadly and briefly defines how general elections (to a basic extent) are conducted, giving the time of elections, and the framework under which the elections are to be conducted set up the Constitution of Pakistan in Article 222-226 in Chapter 2:

text:
No Person shall, at the same time, be a member of, both houses (National Assembly and Senate) or a House and a Provincial Assemblies.
When the National Assembly or a Provincial Assembly is dissolved, a general election to the Assembly shall be held within a period of ninety days after the dissolution, and the results of the election shall be declared not later than fourteen days after the conclusion of the polls.

tag: ol

text:
“

A general election to the National Assembly or a Provincial Assembly shall be held within a period of sixty days immediately following the day on which the term of the Assembly is due to expire, unless the Assembly has been sooner dissolved, and the results of the election shall be declared not later than fourteen days before that day.

”

— Article 222–226: Part VIII: Elections, Chapter:2 Electoral Laws and Conduct of Elections, source: The Constitution of Pakistan[2]

text: Election Commission of Pakistan[edit]

text: The duty of conducting elections are established in the Constitution of Pakistan. Established in 1956, the Election Commission of Pakistan holds the purpose of elections to Houses of Parliament, four provincial assemblies and for election of such other public offices as may be specified by law or until such law is made by the Parliament.[3]  The Election Commission is constituted with comprising the Chief Election Commissioner as its chairman (who is a judge or/ retired judge of the Supreme Court) and four appointed members from each four provinces, each of whom is a judge of four High Courts of the four provinces; all appointed by the President by constitution.[3]

text: After approving the consultations from the chief justices of high courts of four provinces and the chief election commissioner, the President constitutionally approved the appointments of the designated members of the election commission.[1]  The chief election commissioner is appointed by the President, in his/her discretion, for a term of 3 years. The Constitution grants the chief election commission the security of tenure and financial autonomy.

text: Levels of Elections[edit]

text: Parliamentary elections[edit]

text: Assemblies elections[edit]

text: Pakistan has a parliamentary system in which, the executive and legislature are elected directly by public voting in a Constituencies on first-past-the-post system through a secret ballot. Article 222–229 of the Constitution of Pakistan forbids the candidate of occupying the membership of National Assembly and the Provincial assemblies simultaneously. In direct elections, a candidate who obtains the highest number of votes in a constituency, is declared elected as a Member of National or a Provincial Assembly.

text: The Seats in the National Assembly are allocated to each of Four Provinces, the FATAs and the Federal Capital on the basis of population in accordance with the last preceding Census officially published. Members to the Seats reserved for Women and Non-Muslims, are elected in accordance with law through proportional representation system of political party's lists of candidates on the basis of total number of General Seats secured by each political party in the National Assembly or a Provincial Assembly. The National Assembly has 342 seats, usually elected for five year terms; however, if the National Assembly dissolved, a general elections must be called in ninety-days period, in accordance to the constitution.

text:
National Assembly Seats from Provinces
General Seats
Women Seats
Total Seats

Punjab
148
35
183

Sindh
61
14
75

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
35
8
43

Balochistan
14
3
17

National Assemblies from territories

Federally Administered Tribal Areas
12
—
12

Islamabad Capital Territory
2
—
2

Specified Seats
Reserved Seats for Minorities

Seats for Non-Muslim(s)
10
—
10

Composition
Total General Seats
Total Women Seats
Total Seats

Total seats in State Parliament
272
60
342

text: Senate elections[edit]

text: The Senate consists of 104 members, of whom 14 members are elected by each Provincial Assembly, eight members are elected from FATAs by the Members of National Assembly from these areas, two members (one woman and one technocrat) is elected from the Federal Capital by the Members of National Assembly; four women and four Technocrats are elected by the members of each Provincial Assembly. One seat in the senate is reserved for minorities in each province.

text: It is the responsibility of the Chief Election Commissioner to hold and make arrangements for the Senate elections in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote through electoral colleges. The term of the members of the Senate is 6 years. However, the term of the first group of the Senators, who shall retire after completion of first 3 years of the Senate, is determined by drawing of lots by the Chief Election Commission purposes.

text: Presidential elections[edit]

text: The President is elected in presidential elections. In an indirect election, with the winner being determined by votes casts by the electors of the Electoral College. The electoral college is composed of elected senators, members of the national and provincial assemblies. The President is a ceremonial post, head of state, and merely a figurehead with the executive powers granted to Prime Minister, by the Constitution. The Constitution grants right to both men and women to run for the presidency as it states that a presidential candidate, a Muslim, not less than 45 years of age, and a Member of the National Assembly, can contest the Presidential election. The President is elected for a term of 5 years.

text: It is the duty of Chief Election Commissioner to conduct elections to the office of the President in a special session of Parliament and all the Provincial Assemblies in accordance with the provisions of Second Schedule to the Constitution.

text: Local government elections[edit]

text: In order to decentralize administrative and financial authority to be accountable to Local Governments, for good governance, effective delivery of services and transparent decision making through institutionalized participation of the people at grassroots level, elections to the local government institutions are held after every four years on non party basis by the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan.

text: Members of Union Council including Union Administrator and Vice Union Administrator are elected through direct elections based on adult franchise and on the basis of joint electorate. However, for the election to the reserved seats for Women in Zila council proportionately divided among Tehsils or Towns shall be all members of the Union Councils in a Tehsil or Town. It is the responsibility of the Chief Election Commissioner to organize and conduct these elections.

text: First local government election was held in 1959 under the dictatorship of ayub khan. second local government election was held in 1979 under the dictatorship of general zia ul haq. third local government election was under right after the cope of Pervaiz Musharaf in 2000, and finally first time in history of Pakistan local body election held in Pakistan on December 7, 2013. Balochistan was the province where LBTemplate:Description needed Polls held. Punjab, Sindh and KP are all set to conduct the polls. These first time BD Election held due to the immense pressure of new merging political power of PTI on the central government of PMLN.

text: Methods of Voting Qualification[edit]

text: Qualification for membership of the Parliament[edit]

text: A person who is a citizen of Pakistan, is enrolled as a voter in any electoral roll under the Electoral Rolls Act 1974 and in case of National/Provincial Assemblies is not less than 25 years of age and in case of Senate not less than 30 years of age, is of good character and is not commonly known as one who violates Islamic injunctions, has adequate knowledge of Islamic teachings and practices, obligatory duties prescribed by Islam as well as abstains from major sin, is sagacious, righteous and non-profligate, honest and ameen, has not been convicted for a crime involving moral turpitude or for giving false evidence, and has not, after establishment of Pakistan, worked against the integrity of the country or opposed the ideology of Pakistan and is graduate, can contest the elections and become a member of the Parliament or a Provincial Assembly.

text: Voter Qualification[edit]

text: A person, who is a citizen of Pakistan, is not less than 18 years of age on the first day of January of the year in which the rolls are prepared or revised, is not declared by a competent court to be of un-sound mind and is or is deemed to be a resident of an electoral area, can get their selves enrolled as a voter in that electoral area. The citizens registered on the electoral rolls are only eligible to cast their votes.

text: Voting registration system[citation needed][edit]

text:
For the conduct of elections to the National and Provincial Assemblies, the Election Commission appoints a District Returning Officer for each District and a Returning Officer for each constituency, who are drawn from amongst the officers of the Judiciary, the Federal/Provincial Government and Local Authorities. Returning Officers are mostly Additional District & Sessions Judges.
The list of polling stations is prepared by the Returning Officers and approved by the District Returning Officer. No polling station can be located in the premises of a candidate.
The list of Presiding Officers, Assistant Presiding Officers and polling staff is prepared by the Returning Officer and sent to the District Returning Officer for approval at least 15 days before the polls. The Presiding Officer is responsible for conducting polls at the Polling Station and maintaining law and order. He is assisted by the Assistant Presiding Officers and Polling Officer.
After the publication of Election Schedule by the Election Commission, nomination papers are invited from interested contesting candidates.
Scrutiny of nomination papers is carried out by the Returning Officers and nomination papers are accepted/rejected.
Appeals against rejection/acceptance of nomination papers are filed with the appellate tribunal, who decide such appeals summarily within such time as may be notified by the Commission and any order passed thereon shall be final.
Final list of contesting candidates is prepared and published in the prescribed manner by the Returning Officer after incorporation of the decisions on appeals and after withdrawal of candidature by the candidates if any.
Election Symbols are also allocated to the candidates by the Returning Officer according to their party affiliation or as an individual candidate, from the list of Election Symbols approved by the Election Commission. The Returning Officer also publishes the names of the contesting candidates arranged in the Urdu alphabetical order specifying against each the symbol allocated to him.
The Election Commission of Pakistan provides each Returning Officer with copies of voter's list for his constituency who distributes it amongst the Presiding Officers in accordance with the polling scheme and assignment of voters to each polling station/booth.
Voters cast their votes at specified polling stations according to their names in an electoral rolls. Since the election for both National and Provincial Assemblies constituencies are held on the same day, the voter is issued two separate ballot papers for each National Assembly and Provincial Assembly constituency.
When an elector presents himself at the polling station to vote, the Presiding Officer shall issue a ballot paper to the elector after satisfying himself about the identity of the elector through his identity card.
Polling is held for nine hours on the polling day without any break.
Immediately after the close of the poll votes are counted at the polling stations by the Presiding Officers in presence of the candidates, their Election Agents, and Polling Agents.
After counting the ballot papers the Presiding Officer prepares a statement of the count indicating the number of votes secured by a candidate, and send it to the Returning Officer along with the election material, un-used ballot papers, spoilt ballot papers, tendered ballot papers, challenged ballot papers, marked copies of the electoral rolls, the counter-foils of used ballot papers, the tendered votes lists, and the challenged votes lists.
The Presiding Officers also announce the result of count at the polling stations and paste a copy of the result outside the polling stations.
After the receipt of statement of counts from the Presiding Officers of the polling stations, the Returning Officer compiles the preliminary unofficial result and intimates the results to the Election Commission through fax for announcement on print/electronic media.
After the announcement of unofficial result, the Returning Officer serves a notice to all the contesting candidates and their election agents regarding the day, time and place fixed for consolidation of the result. In the presence of the contesting candidates and election agents, the Returning Officer consolidates the results of the count furnished by the Presiding Officers in the prescribed manner including postal ballot received by him before the polling day.
Immediately after preparing the consolidated statement the Returning Officer submits a copy to the Election Commission in the prescribed form which publishes the names of the returned candidates in the official Gazette

text: History of elections in Pakistan[edit]

text: Past elections:General elections from 1954 to 2018[edit]

text:
1st elections  : 1954 (indirect elections) = PML
2nd elections  : 1962 (non-party based indirect elections)
3rd elections  : 1970 = AL
4th elections : 1977 = PPP
5th elections  : 1985 = PML (non-party based elections)
6th elections  : 1988 = PPP
7th elections  : 1990 = IJI
8th elections  : 1993 = PPP
9th elections : 1997 = PMLN
10th elections : 2002 = PMLQ
11th elections : 2008 = PPP
12th elections : 2013 = PMLN
13th elections : 2018 = PTI
Between 1947 and 1958, there were no direct elections held in Pakistan at the national level. Provincial elections were held occasionally. The West Pakistan  provincial elections were described as "a farce, a mockery and a fraud upon the electorate"[4]

text: The first direct elections held in the country after independence were for the provincial Assembly of the Punjab between 10–20 March 1951. The elections were held for 197 seats. As many as 939 candidates contested the election for 189 seats, while the remaining seats were filled unopposed. Seven political parties were in the race. The election was held on an adult franchise basis with approximately one-million voters. The turnout remained low. In Lahore, the turnout was 30 per cent of the listed voters and in rural areas of Punjab it was much lower.

text: On 8 December 1951 the North West Frontier Province held elections for Provincial legislature seats. In a pattern that would be repeated throughout Pakistan's electoral history, many of those who lost accused the winners of cheating and rigging the elections. Similarly, in May, 1953 elections to the Provincial legislature of Sindh were held and they were also marred by accusations of rigging.

text: In April 1954, the general elections were held for the East Pakistan Legislative Assembly, in which the Pakistan Muslim League lost to the pan-Bengali nationalist United Front Alliance.[5]Incumbent Prime minister of East Pakistan Mr. Nurul Amin lost his parliament seat to a veteran student leader and language movement stalwart Khaleque Nawaz Khan in Mr. Amin's home constituency Nandail of Mymensingh district. Nurul Amin's crushing defeat to young Turk of United front alliance effectively eliminated Pakistan Muslim League from Political landscape of the then East Pakistan.

text:
Political parties
1970
1985

Awami League (AL)
160 / 300
0 / 345

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)
81 / 300
0 / 345

Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI)
4 / 300
61 / 200

Pakistan Muslim League (PML)
9 / 300
96 / 200

PML (Council) (PML-C)
4 / 300
0 / 200

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI)
7 / 300
8 / 200

PML (Convention) (PML(C))
0 / 300

National Awami Party (Wali) (NAP(W))
6 / 300
2 / 200

Pakistan Democratic Party (PDP)
1 / 300
0 / 200

Independents
16 / 300
33 / 200

Total Seats

Total seats in State Parliament
300
200

Chief Election Commissioner(s)

Abdus Sattar
Karam Illahi Chohan

Elections under President(s)

Yahya Khan
Zia-ul-Haq

Voter turnout

63%.0
52.9%

text: All data and calculations are provided by Election Commission of Pakistan as Public domain. The General elections in 1985 were non-partisan general elections, but many technocrats belong to the one party to another.

text: General elections from 1977 to 2013[edit]

text: After the loss of East–Pakistan, democracy returned to the country. In 1977, the general elections were held but due to election violence instigated by the right-wing PNA, the martial law took advance against the left oriented PPP.

text: In 1988, the general elections were held again which marked the PPP coming in power but dismissed in two years following the amid lawlessness situation in the country. In 1990, the general elections saw the right-wing alliance forming the government but dismissed in 1993 after the alliance collapse. The general elections in 1993 saw the PPP forming government after successfully seeking plurality in the Parliament. Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto made critical decisions during her era, ranging from working to strengthening the education, defense, foreign policy and pressed her policies hard to implement her domestic programs initiatives. Despite her tough rhetoric, Prime Minister Bhutto's own position deteriorated in her native province, Sindh, and lost her support following the death of her younger brother. Tales of high-scale corruption cases also maligned her image in the country and was dismissed from her post by her own hand-picked president in 1996. The 1997 general elections saw the centre-right, PML(N), gaining the exclusive mandate in the country and supermajority in the parliament. Despite Sharif's popularity in 1998 and popular peace initiatives in 1999, the conspiracy was hatched against Sharif by General Musharraf, accusing Sharif of hijacking the plane and pressed terrorism charges against Sharif in the military courts; thus ending Sharif's government.

text: Ordered by the Supreme Court, General Musharraf held general election in 2002, bearing Sharif and Benazir Bhutto from keeping the public office. With Zafarullah Jamali becoming the Prime minister in 2002, he left the office for Shaukat Aziz in 2004. After the deadly 9/11 attacks in the United States and Musharraf's unconditional policy to support the American war in the Afghanistan, further damaged Musharraf's credibility in the country. In an unsuccessful attempt to dismiss the Judicial system, Musharraf dramatically fall from power. The 2008 general elections allowed the PPP, assisted with the left-wing alliance, further consolidated in opposition to Musharraf, though it was plagued with loadshedding, law and order situation, foreign policy issues, and poor economic performances. In recent elections held in 2013, the PML(N) won the majority seats in the elections and is expected to be forming government in last weeks of May 2013.

text:
Political parties
1977
1988
1990
1993
1997
2002
2008
2013

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)
155
93
45
89
18
81
124
42

Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML(N))
8
54
106
73
137
19
91
166

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)
0
13
15
0
12
17
25
18

Awami National Party (ANP)
17
2
6
3
10
0
13
1

Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam (F) (JUI(F))
0
7
6
0
2
0
0
10

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI)
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
35

Pakistan Muslim League(Q) (PML(Q))
0
0
0
0
0
118
54
2

Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI)
11
1
6
3
0
63
0
3

Independents\Others **
8
38
30
42
28
36
21
28

Government

Government after election
ML
PPP
PML(N)
PPP
PML(N)
PML(Q)
PPP
PML(N)

Total Seats

Total seats in State Parliament
200
207
207
207
207
342
340
342

Voter turnout

Estimated election voter turnout
63.1%
43.07%
45.46%
40.28%
35.42%
41.08%
44.23%
55.02%

text: All data and calculations are provided by Election Commission of Pakistan as Public domain. All elections were contested under a separate electorate system, the 1990 elections had allegations of vote-rigging confirmed by foreign observers.[6] The 'MQM' contested the 1988 elections under the name Muhajir Qaumi Mahaz, it boycotted the 1993 National elections.[7]

text: 2008 General elections[edit]

text: This election led to strong showings for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N), who signed the Bhurban Accord in response to the election results.The election was held in Pakistan on 18 February 2008, after being postponed from 8 January 2008. The original date was intended to elect members of the National Assembly of Pakistan, the lower house of the Majlis-e-Shoora (the nation's parliament). Pakistan's two main opposition parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML (N)) won the majority of seats in the election. The PPP and PML(N) formed the new coalition government with Yosaf Raza Gillani as Prime Minister of Pakistan.Following the election, Pervez Musharraf acknowledged that the process had been free and fair. He conceded the defeat of the PML (Q) and pledged to work with the new Parliament. The voter turnout for the election was 35,170,435 people (44%). By-elections for 28 seats (23 provincial and 5 national) have been delayed numerous times, with most of them now held on 26 June 2008.

text:
Parties

Votes

%

Elected seats

Reserved seats (women)

Reserved seats (minorities)

Total

Percentile

Pakistan Peoples Party

10,606,486

30.6%

97

23

4

124

124 / 340

Pakistan Muslim League (N)

6,781,445

19.6%

71

17

3

91

91 / 340

Pakistan Muslim League (Q)

7,989,817

23.0%

42

10

2

54

54 / 340

Muttahida Qaumi Movement

2,507,813

7.4%

19

5

1

25

25 / 340

Awami National Party

700,479

2.0%

10

3

0

13

13 / 340

Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F)

772,798

2.2%

6

1

0

7

7 / 340

Pakistan Muslim League (F)

4

1

0

5

5 / 340

Pakistan Peoples Party (Sherpao)

140,707

0.4%

1

0

0

1

1 / 340

National Peoples Party

1

0

0

1

1 / 340

Balochistan National Party (Awami)

1

0

0

1

1 / 340

Independents

18

0

0

18

18 / 340

Total (turnout 44%)
Note: Tehreek-e-Insaf, Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan, Tehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan and Jamiat Ahle Hadith Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party did not participate.

34,665,978

100%

270

60

10

340

Source: Election Commission of Pakistan, Election Pakistan: 2008 General Elections Adam Carr's Electoral Archive

text: Pakistani general election, 2013[edit]

text: History of Presidential election: 1956 to 2013[edit]

text:
Political parties
1956
1965

Republican Party (RP)
200[8]
0

Pakistan Muslim League (PML)
10
120[9]

Combined Opposition Party (COP)
4
15[9]

National Democratic Front
0
5

Electoral College

Total Votes
309[8]
190

Presidency

President after election
IA Mirza
A. Khan

Voter turnout

64%[8]

Political Party

RP
PML

text: Promulgation of 1956 constitution, Iskandar Ali Mirza became first President of Pakistan; he was also noted of being the first East-Pakistani Bengali president of Pakistan. In an indirect elections, the electors of the Awami League voted for Mirza's bid for presidency in 1956. Wanting a control democracy, President Mirza dismissed four prime ministers in less than two years and his position in the country was quickly deteriorated amid his actions. In 1958, Mirza imposed the martial law under its enforcer General Ayub Khan, but was also dismissed the same year. Assuming the presidency in 1958, Ayub Khan introduced a "System of Basic Democracy" which mean, "the voters delegate their rights to choose the president and the members of the national and provincial assemblies to 80,000 representatives called Basic Democrats."[10]

text: Under this system, the first direct presidential election was held on January 2, 1965. Some 80,000 'basic democrats', as members of urban and regional councils, caucused to vote. There were two main contestants: Pakistan Muslim League led by President Ayub Khan and the Combined Opposition Parties (COP) under the leadership of Fatima Jinnah. In this highly controversial election with the means of using the state machinery to rigging the votes, the PML secured a thumping majority of 120 seats while the opposition could clinch only 15 seats. Fatima Jinnah's Combined Opposition Party (COP) only secured 10 seats whereas the NDF won 5 seats in East Pakistan and 1 in West Pakistan. The rest of the seats went to the independents.

text: Witnessing the events in 1965, the new drafted constitution created the Electoral College system, making the president as mere figurehead. In 1973, Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry became the first president from the PPP in an indirect polling.[11]  With the martial law remained effective from 1977 till 1988, civil servant Ghulam Ishaq Khan ran for the presidency on a PPP ticket in a deal to support Benazir Bhutto for presidency.[12]  With special powers granted to President GI Khan, he dismissed two elected government during period 1990 and 1993; he too was forced out from the office the same year.[12]  After the 1993 general election, the PPP nominated Farooq Leghari who soon secured majority votes in the parliament.[13]  Originally elected for five-year term, Leghari was forced resigned from the presidency after forcing out Benazir Bhutto from the government in 1996. In 1997 general election, Nawaz Sharif called for fresh presidential elections and nominated Rafiq Tarar for the presidency.[14] In an indirect election, Tarar received heavy votes from the electors of Electoral College, becoming the first president from the PML(N).[14] In 1999 martial law against Sharif, Musharraf self-pointed for the presidency in 2001.[15]  In 2004, he secured his appointment for presidency; though the opposition and religious alliance boycotted the elections.[15] In 2007, Musharraf again restored his appointment after the opposition parties also boycotted the elections. As Musharraf forced out from the power, Asif Zardari of PPP became president after a close presidential elections in 2008.[15] The Pakistani general election of 2013 were held on 11 May 2013. Problems with providing electricity was one of the major issues with the winning candidate, Nawaz Sharif, promising to reform electrical service and provide reliable service.[16].Mamnoon Hussain won this election.

text:
Political parties
1973
1988
1993
1997
2004
2007
2008
2013

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)
451[11]
608[12]
274[13]
31[14]
EB
EB
481
EB

Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML(N))
–
–
168[13]
374[14]
EB
EB
153
432

Pakistan Muslim League(Q) (PML(Q))
–
0
0
0
658
671
44
–

Electoral College

Total Electoral College
457
700
442
457
1,170
1,170
700
706

Presidency

President after election
FI Chaudhy
GI Khan
F .Leghari
R. Tarrar
P.Musharraf
P.Musharraf
A.Zardari
M.Hussain

Political Party

PPP
PPP
PPP
PML(N)
PML(Q)
PML(Q)
PPP
PML(N)

Figurehead
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes

text: FI Chaudhy becomes president in 1973 with PPP's support in four provinces.[11] GI Khan was candidate of PPP in return of supporting Benazir Bhutto in 1988.[12]  Pervez Musharraf gained political support from PML(Q) as their president in 2004 and 2007; both elections were controversial as leading parties PPP and PML(N) boycotted the elections


question_text: when did the smoking ban come in scotland

text: The Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 (asp 13) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament passed in 2005, after being introduced by Scottish Executive Health minister Andy Kerr.

text: The Act established that, from 26 March 2006, it would be an offence to smoke in any wholly or substantially enclosed public space in Scotland, with a small number of exceptions, such as: prisons, care homes and police interview rooms. Private member clubs were not exempted. Hotel rooms could be designated by the proprietors as smoking rooms, but they were under no obligation to do so, and if they did not, the Act applied to them as any other space.

text: It passed on 30 June 2005 with an 83 to 15 vote, with only the Scottish Conservatives opposing, and received Royal Assent on 5 August 2005.

text: Since the ban came into force on 26 March 2006, it has been largely accepted by the vast majority of the Scottish public.  Compliance rates have been high, and as of 14 June 2006, only one premises has been fined for permitting smoking, and that happened on the day the Act came into being.  Additionally, the Swallow Group of hotels, who had launched a legal challenge to the legislation, formally abandoned their attempt on 13 June 2006, after being advised that it would not succeed.

text: Cigarette litter continues to be a problem outside premises; especially bars and restaurants, and Environmental Health Officers have become more proactive in fining people dropping cigarette ends. Phone calls to Smokeline (a smoking support line run by NHS Health Scotland) increased before and after the ban and smoking cessation services have reported that their number of clients has increased since the ban came into force.[citation needed]

text: ASH Scotland was one of the main campaigners for smoke-free legislation, and recognition of their role was confirmed when Maureen Moore (Chief Executive of ASH Scotland) received an OBE in June 2006 for services to  healthcare.

text: Smoking in enclosed public spaces was later banned in England and Wales by the Health Act 2006, and in Northern Ireland by the Smoking (Northern Ireland) Order 2006.