Revision as of 13:37, 8 September 2017

System of government, elections: 1947-2017

Pakistan had to wait till 1970 for its 1st election

LEARNING WITH THE TIMES - Pakistan had to wait till 1970 for its 1st election|Jul 31 2017 : The Times of India (Delhi)

When did Pakistan hold its first general elections?

Unlike India, where general elections were held almost immediately after independence, Pakistan had to wait till 1970, more than two decades after its independence. At that time, Pakistan was a union of two geographically isolated regions -East Pakistan (today's Bangladesh) and West Pakistan (today's Pakistan). The 1970 general elections were swept by the East Pakistan-based Awami League of Sheikh Mujib-urRahman which emerged as the largest party winning 160 seats in the 300-seat assembly .In West Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) was the winner, but its 81 seats were far fewer than the Awami League's. The seat of power was in the West dominated by Punjabis and they were reluctant to let Mujib -ethnically a Bengali -lead the country .These developments caused massive protests in the East, which were brutally supressed by the Pakistan army leading to a guerrilla resistance by the Mukti Bahini and a massive influx of refugees into India. Accusing India of aiding the Mukti Bahini, Pakistan carried out air strikes on Indian airbases that led to a full scale war and the liberation of Bangladesh.

How was the government functioning before the 1970 elections?

Although it took decades for democracy to start functioning, efforts to dilute democratic institutions, mixing of religion with politics, politicisation of the army and using paranoia about India as a major political issue had started much earlier. Soon after the country's independence, power was seized by former army General Iskander Mirza, who became Pakistan's first president in 1955 before the promulgation of the country's constitution a year later. Mirza is often blamed for starting the politicisation of the army . On October 7, 1958 he abolished the constitution, declared martial law and appointed General Ayub Khan as the Chief Martial Law Administrator. Mirza was arrested within a few days and exiled to Britain and Ayub Khan seized power. Generally considered a secular person, Ayub Khan used religion in the 1965 presidential election against Fatima Jinnah, who emerged as the voice of dissent against the military dictatorship. Encouraged by Ayub Khan, many clerics denounced her, saying a woman could not rule a Muslim country. After the humiliation of the 1965 war against India, Ayub Khan was forced to hand over power to General Yahya Khan in 1969, who was later pushed to conduct elections.

Have elections been regu lar since then?

The defeat in the 1971 war made Yahya Khan extremely unpopular and he was forced to cede power to Bhutto, who won a majority of seats in West Pakistan. Bhutto became the PM in 1973 after a new constitution was imple mented. Bhutto was accused of misuse of power before the second general election held in 1977. The election was plagued with allegations of rigging by Bhutto. In July , 1977, soon after the election results, Bhutto was arrested by General Zia-ul-Haq. Ironically, as part of the by then established tradition of politicization and favouritism in the army , Bhutto had also not made the senior most general army chief and appointed his favourite Zia superseding seven lieutenant generals.

How was Zia's rule and why is America so close to Pakistan?

Coming from a conservative Muslim family , Zia is criticized by Pakistani commentators as a man with a `very today looking vision' and a shallow understanding of Islam.Zia introduced medieval era laws that included jailing of rape victims, making headscarf mandatory for news readers and use of public flogging as a judicial punishment. The 1979 USSR invasion of Afghanistan coincided with Zia's regime and Pakistan became crucial to US efforts to counter communism in the region. Pakistan was used by the US as a platform to support Islamic jihad against the `atheist' Soviets.Osama-bin-Laden was also among the jihadis supported by the Americans. The 2001 War on Terror also coincided with Pervez Musharraf 's rule when Pakistan became a major US ally . Ironically, America has helped Pakistan more when it is under military rule.