Parliamentary elections in Pakistan 1970
The parliamentary elections in Pakistan in 1970 took place on December 7, 1970. The members of the National Assembly and the Provincial Governments were elected. The 1970 parliamentary elections were the first in Pakistan's history and the first and only before Bangladesh gained independence .
background
Pakistan was a Dominion of the British Kingdom until 1956 and, after a constitution was passed, proclaimed itself the world's first Islamic Republic on March 23, 1956. The first elections in Pakistan's history were scheduled for 1959. However, political instability led President Iskander Mirza to declare martial law. The army chief , Ayub Khan was entrusted with the government by the president. Ayub Khan became president and promoted himself to field marshal and appointed Muhammad Musa Khan as the new army chief.
In February 1960, Ayub Khan had a commission, chaired by Chief Justice Muhammad Shahabuddin, set up to draw up a constitution. The Commission's report formed the basis for Pakistan's second constitution in 1962. The new constitution made Pakistan a republic and introduced the presidential system of government , which superseded the constitutional parliamentary system of 1956. The 1962 constitution also introduced the Electoral College as an electoral body. The presidential elections were held in 1965, which Ayub Khan won.
Displeasure with Ayub Khan grew over the years, especially in East Pakistan . Shaikh Mujibur Rahman was the driving force behind the resistance against Ayub Khan. Rahman presented a six-point program in Lahore in 1966 , which aimed at the independence of East Pakistan from West Pakistan.
Shaikh Mujibur Rahman was accused of conspiracy and sedition in 1968. Rahman was blamed for the political instability in Pakistan. No conspiracy could be proven. However, it became known that Rahman had met in secret with the Indian government in 1962 and 1965, after the Second Indo-Pakistani War . This incident sparked unrest in East Pakistan. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was Pakistan's Foreign Minister under the Ayub Khan government, but submitted his resignation. He founded the Pakistan Peoples Party in 1967 and went into opposition to Ayub Khan. Ayub Khan came under increasing domestic political pressure and handed over power to the army chief Yahya Khan .
The government of Yahya Khan again declared martial law and repealed the constitution in 1962. Yahya Khan passed a decree setting the framework for the 1970 general election. West Pakistan feared East Pakistan's aspirations for autonomy. Another function of the decree was to ensure a new constitution to be adopted after the elections. The one-province policy passed in 1954 was abolished and Pakistan was divided into four provinces. Yahya Khan did not expect Rahman to win the 1970 elections.
Parties and candidates
The 1970 parliamentary elections are considered to be the fairest elections with 24 parties running. The elections favored the two-party system , as the Awami League competed against the influential PPP. The Pakistani government supported the pro-Islamic parties. The Jamaat-e-Islami assumed that the Awami League would break away.
Election campaign in East Pakistan
Both parties were able to fall back on a lot of support in their respective parts of the country. The Awami League based its election campaign on the six-point program, which met with broad approval in East Pakistan. The Awami League received a lot of popular votes in East Pakistan. The Awami League received the most votes in both parts of the country and was able to secure the most seats in parliament and in the Senate. Both parties could not win seats in the other part of the country. This gave Bhutto an opportunity to mock the Awami League. West Pakistani politicians were not keen on the idea that the Awami League would take over governance in both parts of the country.
Election campaign in West Pakistan
The political situation in West Pakistan was very different. The Pakistani population was divided between different parties. The Muttahida Qaumi movement invoked political Islam in its election campaign and wanted to reintroduce Sharia laws. The Pakistan Muslim League invoked the vision of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and wanted to govern Pakistan according to his vision. However, the individual parties criticized each other. A total of 1,957 candidates took part in the elections.
Result
The Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won 160 seats in parliament. The PPP around Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto could only get 81 seats.
Individual evidence
- ^ Ian Talbot: Pakistan: A Modern History . St. Martin's Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0-312-21606-1 , p. 190.
- ^ Ian Talbot: Pakistan: A Modern History . St. Martin's Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0-312-21606-1 , p. 193: "The Agartala contacts however did not provide solid evidence of a Mujib-India secessionist conspiracy in East Pakistan"
- ^ Ian Talbot: Pakistan: A Modern History . St. Martin's Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0-312-21606-1 , p. 193: “When this duly arrived. the western wing's nightmare scenario materialized: either a constitutional deadlock, or the imposition in the whole of the country of the Bengalis' longstanding commitment to unfettered democracy and provincial autonomy. "
- ^ Ian Talbot: Pakistan: A Modern History . St. Martin's Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0-312-21606-1 , p. 193: "From November 1969 until the announcement of the national election results, he discounted the possibility of an Awami League landslide in East Pakistan."
- ^ Ian Talbot: Pakistan: A Modern History . St. Martin's Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0-312-21606-1 , p. 196: "The JI itself warned that an Awami League victory would mean the disintegration of Pakistan."
- ^ Owen Bennett-Jones: Pakistan: Eye of the Storm . Yale University Press , 2003, ISBN 978-0-300-10147-8 , pp. 146-180.
- ↑ Elections of 1970 (English)
- ↑ Dieter Nohlen , Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I , p. 686
