General elections were held in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 on 24 October 1990. The result was a victory for Islami Jamhoori Ittehad

Islami Jamhoori Ittehad

Islami Jamhoori Ittehad or Islamic Democratic Alliance was formed in September 1988 to oppose the Pakistan Peoples Party in elections that year...

, which won 106 of the 207 seats. Voter turnout was 45.5%.

Background

The Pakistan Peoples Party

Pakistan Peoples Party

The Pakistan Peoples Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Pakistan affiliated with Socialist International. Pakistan People's Party is the largest political party of Pakistan...

 (PPP) led by Benazir Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto was a democratic socialist who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996....

 won a plurality of seats in the 1988 election

Pakistani general election, 1988

General elections were held in Pakistan on 16 November 1988 to elect the National Assembly of Pakistan. The result was a victory for the Pakistan People's Party, which won 94 of the 207 seats...

 and Bhutto became Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Pakistan

The Prime Minister of Pakistan , is the Head of Government of Pakistan who is designated to exercise as the country's Chief Executive. By the Constitution of Pakistan, Pakistan has the parliamentary democratic system of government...

. However by 1990 there was discontent over rising lawlessness, allegations of corruption and the failure of the government to fulfill the promises it had made during the 1988 campaign.

Parties

The PPP ran in the election in a coalition with 3 smaller parties as the People's Democratic Alliance.

Campaign

By the start of the campaign reports suggested that Bhutto and the PDA were in a stronger position as the caretaker government failed to produce sufficient evidence to prove any charges against her.

At the end of the campaign Bhutto led hundreds of thousands of supporters in a procession in Lahore

Lahore

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

, while Sharif held a rally for about ten thousand nearby.

Results

50

4

2

Parties	Votes	%	Seats	+/-
Islami Jamhoori Ittehad Islami Jamhoori Ittehad Islami Jamhoori Ittehad or Islamic Democratic Alliance was formed in September 1988 to oppose the Pakistan Peoples Party in elections that year...	7,908,513	37.4	106
People's Democratic Alliance Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan Peoples Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Pakistan affiliated with Socialist International. Pakistan People's Party is the largest political party of Pakistan...	7,795,218	36.8	44	New
Haq Parast Haq Parast Haq Parast is a group of politicians closely related to the third largest political party in Pakistan Muttahida Quami Movement or simply Muttahida....	1,172,525	5.5	15	New
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam is a political party in Pakistan. It formed a combined government in national elections in 2002 and 2008...	622,214	2.9	6
Awami National Party Awami National Party The Awami National Party is an Pashtun nationalist, socialist, centre-left political party in Pakistan affiliated with Socialist International...	356,160	1.7	6
Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan The Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan is a political party in Pakistan. It is part of the Islamic Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, that won at the last legislative elections, 20 October 2002, 11.3 of the popular vote and 53 out of 272 elected members.This party belongs to the Sunni current, which in...  (Noorani)	310,953	1.5	3	New
Pakistan Awami Tehrik Pakistan Awami Tehrik The Pakistan Awami Tehrik is a political party in Pakistan.The founder and chairman of the party is Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. In 1990, Pakistan Awami Tehrik participated in the national elections just one year after it was founded...	237,492	1.1	0	New
Jamhoori Wattan Party	129,431	0.6	2	New
Pakistan National Party	127,287	0.6	|2
Pakhtun-khwa Milli Awami Party Pakhtun-khwa Milli Awami Party Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party / ) is a Pashtun democratic political party in Pakistan. The moto of PkMAP is to unite Pushtuns of Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pukhtunkhwa provinces of Pakistan.Mahmood Khan Achakzai is the current party chairman...	73,635	0.3	1	New
Sindh National Front Sindh National Front Sindh National Front is a political party in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is currently led by Mumtaz Bhutto, the cousin of Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan, who was hanged by the regime of Zia-ul-Haq....	51,990	0.2	0	New
Pakistan Democratic Party Pakistan Democratic Party The Pakistan Democratic Party is a political party in Pakistan.At the last legislative elections, 20 October 2002, the party won 0.3% of the popular vote and 1 out of 272 elected members....	51,645	0.2	0	0
Balochistan National Movement	51,297	0.2	0	New
Sindh National Alliance (Hamid Jatioi)	31,125	0.1	0	New
13 other parties	64,470	0.3	0
Independents	2,179,956	10.3	22
Invalid/blank votes	231,568
Total	21,395,479	100	207	0
Source: Nohlen et al