Pakistani general election, 1993
Encyclopedia
General elections were held in Pakistan
on 6 October 1993. The election took place after both the Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif
and President
Ghulam Ishaq Khan
resigned to resolve a power struggle between them. Although the Pakistan Muslim League (N)
won the largest number of votes, the Pakistan Peoples Party
won the most seats. After winning the support of minor parties and independents
the leader of the PPP, Benazir Bhutto
, was elected Prime Minister by the National Assembly. Voter turnout was 40.3%.
(PML-N) won the 1990 election
and the party's leader, Nawaz Sharif, became Prime Minister. In early 1993 he attempted to strip the President of the power to dismiss the Prime Minister, National Assembly and regional assemblies. However in April 1993 President Khan dismissed Sharif for corruption and called elections for the 14 July after dissolving the National Assembly. Sharif immediately appealed to the Supreme Court
, which in May ruled by 10 to 1 that Khan had exceeded his powers and therefore restored Sharif as Prime Minister.
Khan and Sharif then began to battle for control of Pakistan for the next two months. They both attempted to secure control over the regional assemblies and in particular, Punjab
. In Punjab this saw a staged kidnapping and the moving of 130 members of the Punjab Assembly to the capital to ensure they stayed loyal to Sharif. Meanwhile the leader of the main opposition party Benazir Bhutto threatened to lead a march on Islamabad
unless new elections were called.
Finally on the 18 July, under pressure from the army
to resolve the power struggle, Sharif and Khan resigned as Prime Minister and President respectively. Elections for the National Assembly were called for the 6 October with elections for the regional assemblies set to follow shortly afterwards.
, Wasim Sajjad
became interim president and former World Bank
executive Moeenuddin Ahmad Qureshi
became caretaker prime minister. The interim government cut spending, introduced a tax on rich landowners and cracked down on corruption and drug traffickers. They were praised for stabilising the country while the campaign took place but their policies were criticised by the two main political leaders, Sharif and Bhutto.
In total 1,485 candidates stood in the election but the main fight was between the PML-N of Nawaz Sharif and the PPP of Benazir Bhutto. Their policies were very similar but saw a clash of personalities with both parties making many promises but not explaining how they were going to pay for them. Sharif stood on his record of privitisation
s and development projects and pledged to restore his taxi
giveaway program. Bhutto promised price support
s for agriculture, pledged a partnership between government and business and campaigned strongly for the female vote.
Opinion poll
s showed a very close election between the two main parties but there was a lot of cynicism among voters. The army was credited with making sure that the election was fair and deployed 150,000 troops in polling stations to ensure this.
and rural Punjab, while the PML-N was strongest in industrial Punjab and the largest cities such as Karachi
, Lahore
and Rawalpindi
. Islamic fundamentalist
candidates did poorly in an election that was marked by a low turnout
. Turnout in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi
, was particularly low at 20% after one party MQM (A) boycotted the election. International observers from 40 countries reported no serious irregularities in an election which was seen as the most free and fair since 1970.
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 6 October 1993. The election took place after both the 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...
Nawaz Sharif
Nawaz Sharif
Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif is a Pakistani conservative politician and steel magnate who served as 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from November 1990 to July 1993, and from February 1997 to October 12, 1999...
and President
President of Pakistan
The President of Pakistan is the head of state, as well as figurehead, of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Recently passed an XVIII Amendment , Pakistan has a parliamentary democratic system of government. According to the Constitution, the President is chosen by the Electoral College to serve a...
Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Ghulam Ishaq Khan , abbreviated as GIK, was the seventh President of Pakistan from August 17, 1988 until July 18, 1993 and a career statesman from the start to the end of cold war...
resigned to resolve a power struggle between them. Although the Pakistan Muslim League (N)
Pakistan Muslim League (N)
The Pakistan Muslim League is a conservative political party in Pakistan, affiliated with Western conservatism...
won the largest number of votes, 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...
won the most seats. After winning the support of minor parties and independents
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
the leader of the PPP, 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....
, was elected Prime Minister by the National Assembly. Voter turnout was 40.3%.
Background
The Pakistan Muslim League (N)Pakistan Muslim League (N)
The Pakistan Muslim League is a conservative political party in Pakistan, affiliated with Western conservatism...
(PML-N) won the 1990 election
Pakistani general election, 1990
General elections were held in Pakistan on 24 October 1990. The result was a victory for Islami Jamhoori Ittehad, which won 106 of the 207 seats. Voter turnout was 45.5%.-Background:...
and the party's leader, Nawaz Sharif, became Prime Minister. In early 1993 he attempted to strip the President of the power to dismiss the Prime Minister, National Assembly and regional assemblies. However in April 1993 President Khan dismissed Sharif for corruption and called elections for the 14 July after dissolving the National Assembly. Sharif immediately appealed to the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Pakistan
The Supreme Court is the apex court in Pakistan's judicial hierarchy, the final arbiter of legal and constitutional disputes. The Supreme Court has a permanent seat in Islamabad. It has number of Branch Registries where cases are heard. It has a number of de jure powers which are outlined in the...
, which in May ruled by 10 to 1 that Khan had exceeded his powers and therefore restored Sharif as Prime Minister.
Khan and Sharif then began to battle for control of Pakistan for the next two months. They both attempted to secure control over the regional assemblies and in particular, Punjab
Punjab (Pakistan)
Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...
. In Punjab this saw a staged kidnapping and the moving of 130 members of the Punjab Assembly to the capital to ensure they stayed loyal to Sharif. Meanwhile the leader of the main opposition party Benazir Bhutto threatened to lead a march on Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
unless new elections were called.
Finally on the 18 July, under pressure from the army
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...
to resolve the power struggle, Sharif and Khan resigned as Prime Minister and President respectively. Elections for the National Assembly were called for the 6 October with elections for the regional assemblies set to follow shortly afterwards.
Campaign
Until the election the chairman of the SenateSenate of Pakistan
The Senate of Pakistan is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan. Elections are held every three years for one half of the senate and each senator has a term of six years...
, Wasim Sajjad
Wasim Sajjad
Wasim Sajjad was interim President of Pakistan on two occasions, serving as interim President prior to elections. Currently, being a member of PML-Q, he is the Leader of the Opposition in Senate of Pakistan.- Early life :...
became interim president and former World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
executive Moeenuddin Ahmad Qureshi
Moeenuddin Ahmad Qureshi
Moeenuddin Ahmad Qureshi, usually referred to as Moeen Qureshi, is a Pakistani economist and political figure. A former Vice President of the World Bank, he was the Interim Prime Minister of Pakistan from July 18, 1993 until 19 October, 1993....
became caretaker prime minister. The interim government cut spending, introduced a tax on rich landowners and cracked down on corruption and drug traffickers. They were praised for stabilising the country while the campaign took place but their policies were criticised by the two main political leaders, Sharif and Bhutto.
In total 1,485 candidates stood in the election but the main fight was between the PML-N of Nawaz Sharif and the PPP of Benazir Bhutto. Their policies were very similar but saw a clash of personalities with both parties making many promises but not explaining how they were going to pay for them. Sharif stood on his record of privitisation
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
s and development projects and pledged to restore his taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
giveaway program. Bhutto promised price support
Price support
In economics, a price support may be either a subsidy or a price control, both with the intended effect of keeping the market price of a good higher than the competitive equilibrium level....
s for agriculture, pledged a partnership between government and business and campaigned strongly for the female vote.
Opinion poll
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
s showed a very close election between the two main parties but there was a lot of cynicism among voters. The army was credited with making sure that the election was fair and deployed 150,000 troops in polling stations to ensure this.
Results
The PPP won the most seats in the election at 86 but failed to gain a majority with the PML-N second with 73 seats. The PPP performed strongly in Bhutto's native SindhSindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
and rural Punjab, while the PML-N was strongest in industrial Punjab and the largest cities such as Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, 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...
and Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
. Islamic fundamentalist
Islamic fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism is a term used to describe religious ideologies seen as advocating a return to the "fundamentals" of Islam: the Quran and the Sunnah. Definitions of the term vary. According to Christine L...
candidates did poorly in an election that was marked by a low turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
. Turnout in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, was particularly low at 20% after one party MQM (A) boycotted the election. International observers from 40 countries reported no serious irregularities in an election which was seen as the most free and fair since 1970.
| Parties | Votes | % | Seats | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pakistan Muslim League (N) Pakistan Muslim League (N) The Pakistan Muslim League is a conservative political party in Pakistan, affiliated with Western conservatism... |
7,980,229 | 39.9 | 73 | New |
| 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... |
7,578,635 | 37.9 | 89 | New |
| Pakistan Muslim League (J) Pakistan Muslim League (J) The Pakistan Muslim League was a political party in Pakistan established in 1993. It merged with PML-Q in 2004.It is one of the factions of the original Pakistan Muslim League, named "J" after Junejo... |
781,652 | 3.9 | 6 | New |
| Pakistan Islamic Front | 645,278 | 3.2 | 3 | New |
| Islamic Jamhoori Mahaz | 480,099 | 2.4 | 4 | New |
| 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... |
335,094 | 1.7 | 3 | |
| Mutehda Deeni Mahaz | 216,937 | 1.1 | 2 | New |
| 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... |
97,541 | 0.5 | 3 | |
| National Democratic Alliance | 64,713 | 0.3 | 1 | New |
| Jamhoori Wattan Party | 54,607 | 0.3 | 2 | 0 |
| Pakhtun-khwa Qaumi Party | 54,144 | 0.3 | 1 | New |
| National Peoples Party National Peoples Party The National Peoples Party is a political party in Pakistan most active in the province of Sindh and southern parts of Punjab. It was founded in 1986 by Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi after falling out with Benazir Bhutto and leaving her Pakistan Peoples Party.In the 2008 Pakistani general elections the... (Khar) |
48,721 | 0.2 | 1 | New |
| Balochistan National Movement (Hayee) | 47,648 | 0.2 | 1 | New |
| Balochistan National Movement (Mengal) | 45,228 | 0.2 | 1 | New |
| Other parties | 107,979 | 0.5 | 0 | |
| Independents | 1,482,033 | 7.4 | 16 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | 272,769 | |||
| Total | 20,293,307 | 100 | 207 | 0 |
| Source: Nohlen et al | ||||