A Brief History of Election in Pakistan

At the time of independence, Pakistan was without a constitution. The Government of India Act 1935, was adopted as its interim constitution. The Muslim and non-Muslim members of the pre-independence Assembly of India from areas comprising Pakistan formed its first Constituent (legislative) Assembly. The original members of the Constituent Assembly were 69. They were indirectly elected in 1946 by the provincial assemblies voting through a proportional representation system by means of a single transferable vote. The Members of the Provincial Assemblies were earlier elected on a restricted franchise basis in 1946. The Constituent Assembly (CA) created four seats for Bahawalpur, Khairpur, Balochistan and NWFP (now Khyber Pakhtunkhawa), which were nominated by the rulers. The six members of the CA were chosen by the provincial assemblies in 1949, and the number of members of CA was raised from 69 to 79 which included 31 lawyers, 27 landlords, nine businessmen and 12 liberal professionals. [Hassan Muhammad: General Election in Pakistan p. 3]

During 1947-1954 no direct election was held for the central legislature. However, direct elections to the provincial assemblies were held on the basis of adult franchise in 1951. In Punjab, 50 per cent of the electorate polled their votes. The Muslim League got 30 per cent votes polled and bagged 143 seats out of the total 197 seats.

The Muslim League could get only 10 seats in East Pakistan while the United Front got 223 seats and the National Congress 24 seats. Many Muslim League leaders had their election security forfeited. The elections to the Second Constituent Assembly were held on June 21, 1955. The Provincial Assembly members served as the Electoral College for the election to the Second Constituent Assembly.

The presidential election was held in 1960, in which 75,283 Basic Democracy (BD) members reposed trust in then President Field Marshal Ayub Khan. The referendum also gave him the mandate for making a constitution. The BD members elected the National Assembly in 1962. The total members were 156, including six women with 50 per cent representation each. In 1965, the presidential election was held again. Ayub Khan and Madr-e-Millat Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah contested this election. President Ayub used the state machinery and funds to buy votes of BD members. The election was rigged and Ayub Khan won by securing 49,700 votes as against 28,345 obtained by the Madr-e-Millat.

In the history of Pakistan, the first direct elections to the national and provincial assemblies were held in 1970. The intelligence agencies reported to General Yahya Khan that no party would get majority in parliament. Thus the result of the 1970 election surprised everyone. The people in East and West Pakistan frustrated the designs of Gen Yahya, who wanted to perpetuate his rule in view of a possible split mandate.

The Awami League in East Pakistan and the PPP in West Pakistan got the majority vote. The Awami League got 160, PPP 81, PML (Q) 9, PML (C) 7, NAP 6 and the JUI 7 seats in the National Assembly.

Almost 60 per cent of registered voters used their right to vote in this election. General Yahya Khan did not transfer power to Mujib-ur-Rehman and chose to opt for an army operation in East Pakistan in order to resolve the political issue. Dhaka fell to the Indian Army after the 1971 war with India. Gen Yahya was forced to hand over power to the PPP Chairman, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was a majority leader in West Pakistan.

Z. A. Bhutto was over-confident due to his popular revolutionary reform. He decided to hold a general election in March 1977, a year earlier of his constitutional term. The PPP once again got a two-third majority in the National Assembly and won 155 seats. The Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) could win only 36 seats. The opposition did not accept the result and started a movement against the PPP government which culminated in the martial law by General Zia-ul-Haq. General Zia held the election in 1985 on non-party basis. The Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD) ‘an alliance of 11 political parties – boycotted these elections.

 After the death of General Zia-ul-Haq the election was held in October 1988 in which the PPP got 93 seats in the National Assembly, IJI 54 and the Independents 40 seats. Benazir Bhutto was elected as the first woman prime minister of Pakistan. She could rule only for 20 months when President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismissed her government under Article 58/2-B of the Constitution. The election, which was held in 1990, was rigged. Some 140 million rupees were distributed among the candidates opposed to the PPP by the ISI. The IJI grabbed 106 seats of the National Assembly, whereas Pakistan Democratic Alliance (PDA) got only 44 seats. Mian Nawaz Sharif was elected the Prime Minister of Pakistan. He ruled the country till 18 July 1993 when his government was dismissed by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan.

New election was held in October 1993. Moeen Qureshi was named as a caretaker prime minister of Pakistan. PPP secured 89 seats of the National Assembly while PML got 73 seats. Benazir Bhutto formed government as the second woman prime minister. Her government was however dissolved by President Farooq Khan Leghari on November 5, 1996 under Article 58/2-B of the Constitution. New election was held on February 7, 1997. The PML, under Nawaz Sharif, got a heavy mandate by securing 137 seats. The PPP could win only 18 seats in the 1997 election. Mian Nawaz Sharif once again formed the government as prime minister. His government was sacked by Army Chief General Pervaiz Musharraf, who became the Chief Executive of Pakistan. General Musharraf held election in 2002 in which the king’s party, PML (Q), secured 118 seats of the National Assembly. PPP got 81 seats, Muttahida Majlis-Amal (MMA) got 60 seats and PML-N only 18 seats.

Mir Zafarullah Jamali was elected the prime minister. The PML-Q government completed its full term because General Musharraf remained President of Pakistan as well as Chief of the Army Staff (COAS).

The last election was held in February 2008 after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. As a result, the PPP emerged as the majority party and formed a coalition government first with the help of PML-N, MQM and JUI but the PML-N left the coalition. However, the PML-Q joined the government. And, now, the citizens of Pakistan are looking forward to the new election which is just around the corner.