Parliamentary elections in Pakistan 1997

The 1997 parliamentary elections in Pakistan took place on February 3, 1997. The members of the National Assembly of Pakistan and the four provincial governments were elected. The elections were marked by the rivalry between the Pakistan Muslim League (N) with its top candidate, Nawaz Sharif , and the Pakistan People's Party with its top candidate, Benazir Bhutto . Nawaz Sharif benefited from the death of Murtaza Bhutto and the poor economic situation in Pakistan and won the election with a large majority. Nawaz Sharif received the most votes in the history of Pakistan, making it the 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan. The elections took place after President Farooq Leghari dissolved the PPP-led government of Benazir Bhutto. Her government has been accused of corruption and financial mismanagement and has come into conflict with the Pakistani Supreme Court . The government also violated the Pakistani Constitution . The turnout was 35%.

background

The PPP won the most seats in the parliamentary elections in 1993 and Benazir Bhutto was elected Prime Minister. The government has been accused of financial mismanagement, the destruction of the independence of the judiciary, violation of the Pakistani Constitution and police murders. A number of PPP party members have been arrested. This included Asif Ali Zardari , who was accused of collecting commissions on deals. A former member and spokesman for the PPP; Miraj Khalid became Prime Minister on an interim basis. The parliament and the provincial governments were eventually dissolved and elections announced for February 3, 1997. Benazir Bhutto filed a lawsuit against her dismissal. However, the lawsuit was dismissed.

Election campaigns

It was expected that Bhutto and Sharif and up to 90 people could be prevented from voting in the elections. The interim government campaigned against corruption, but had to admit in December 1996 that there was insufficient evidence to support lawsuits against leading politicians. The 1997 election was therefore just a dispute between the PML-N and the PPP. A total of 6000 candidates stood for election, 1758 for parliament and 4,426 for the provincial governments. The campaign topics included corruption, economy and terrorism. However, surveys showed that the turnout will be 20%. The PML-N led the polls.

Result

The PML-N won the election and received the most votes since the 1977 election. The PPP only won 18 seats in parliament and failed to win seats in the provincial governments in Sindh , Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab for the first time . Imran Khan's party, PTI, was unable to enter parliament. Voter turnout was the lowest in Pakistan's electoral history at 36%.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dieter Nohlen , Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I , p680
2. ↑ History of the 1997 parliamentary elections (English)
3. ^ Pakistan president fires Bhutto, calls new election , CNN . November 5, 1996. Archived from the original on September 9, 2005. Retrieved November 11, 2008. 
4. ^ John F. Burns: Pakistan's Corruption Drive Falters, Creating Political Openings , The New York Times . December 25, 1996. Retrieved November 13, 2008. 
5. ↑ PAKISTAN VOTE GRIPS EMIGRES , Daily News . February 3, 1997. Retrieved November 13, 2008.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) 
6. ^ John F. Burns: Muslim Party Gets Huge Margin in Pakistan's Parliament , The New York Times . February 5, 1997. Retrieved November 13, 2008. 
7. ^ John F. Burns: Benazir Bhutto Loses Badly To Longtime Pakistan Rival , The New York Times . February 4, 1997. Retrieved November 13, 2008.