The systematic organisation of the Peoples Party was hardly two years at that time. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his comrades had been busy in political activities since the very days of the Pakistan movement and their political party was old and experienced but Bhutto and the Peoples Party were young.
On the other hand, the parties which had started off as claimants of the Islamic system to contest the election were totally unsuccessful in identifying with the mood of the common people.
The motto of both these parties was socialism. Their manifestoes emphasised a solution to the political, economic and social problems of the country and made rosy promises to the people but the results of the election showed that only two parties – the Awami League and the PPP – were acquainted with the habits and disposition of the nation and were those who had the knowledge of the pulse of the feelings, emotions and desires of the people. There was a strong possibility that indeed if a compromise developed between the Awami League and the Peoples Party then the constitution could very easily be framed in the appointed period of four months.Īlso read: Pakistan: Is Political Change in the Air?Īpproximately two dozen political and religious parties participated in the elections. They were not deceived by the Islamists because their daily experiences had made them aware that the demon of exploitation had worn the clothing of Islamism.Įveryone knew that the sole purpose of the 1970 election was to devise a democratic constitution. Extremely provocative things were said about the left-wing parties in newspapers, mosque sermons but this storm of propaganda could not influence the people. Fatwas of apostasy and heresy were issued upon socialism and its supporters and the election of the National Assembly was presented as a war between Islam and evil. Ranged against them were those who claimed Islam was in danger, or that the ideology of Pakistan was in danger. They stood by every such slogan and party which stood for social revolution. Until just a few years before, a military dictator used to say that democracy was not suited to the temperament of Pakistanis.īy voting the way they did, the people proclaimed that they had grown weary of the then-prevalent political and social system in the country and wanted to change it as soon as possible. The National Assembly elections and the enthusiasm they generated was a golden chapter in the history of the struggle for democracy in Pakistan. The irony is that the December 7 election, which led directly to the breakup of Pakistan, was seen at the time as a great and historic day – on which crores of Pakistanis used their right to vote and assert their sovereignty. Bhutto became prime minister in 1973 after the post was recreated by a new constitution. The assembly was eventually inaugurated in 1972 after Yahya resigned and handed power to Bhutto. The situation escalated into a civil war that led to the breakup of Pakistan and the formation of the independent state of Bangladesh. However, this move failed as the delay in inauguration had already caused significant unrest in East Pakistan. Instead, Yahya appointed the veteran Bengali politician Nurul Amin as prime minister, asking him to reach a compromise between the PPP and Awami League. The National Assembly was initially not inaugurated as the military dictator Yahya Khan and the PPP chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did not want a party from East Pakistan heading the federal government. The Marxist National Awami Party emerged victorious in the Northwest Frontier Province and Balochistan. In the provincial elections held ten days later, the Awami League again dominated in East Pakistan, while the PPP won Punjab and Sindh. The PPP won only 81 seats, all in West Pakistan. The result was a victory for the Awami League, which won an absolute majority of 160 seats, all of which were in East Pakistan. The Awami League was the only major party in the east wing, while in the west wing, the PPP faced competition from the conservative factions of the Muslim League – the largest of which was Muslim League (Qayyum), as well as Islamist parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP). The elections were a fierce contest between two social democratic parties – the west-based Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and the east-based Awami League of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Voting took place in 300 constituencies, of which 162 were in East Pakistan and 138 in West Pakistan. They were the first general elections since the independence of Pakistan and ultimately the only ones held prior to the independence of Bangladesh. General elections were held in Pakistan on Decem– 50 years ago today – to elect members of the National Assembly.
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