1993 Pakistani general election

Background

The Pakistan Muslim League (N) (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 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 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 6 October with elections for the regional assemblies set to follow shortly afterwards.

Campaign

Until the election the chairman of the Senate, Wasim Sajjad became interim president and former World Bank executive Moeenuddin Ahmad Qureshi became caretaker prime minister. 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. Sharif stood on his record of privatisations and development projects and pledged to restore his taxi giveaway program. Bhutto promised price supports for agriculture, pledged a partnership between government and business and campaigned strongly for the female vote.

Opinion polls showed a very close election between the two main parties but there was a lot of cynicism among voters.

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. This was also the first election in Pakistan in which the party that won the popular vote, the PML-N, failed to win the most seats. The PPP performed strongly in Bhutto's native Sindh and rural Punjab, while the PML-N was strongest in industrial Punjab and the largest cities such as Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.

Aftermath

Election for Prime Minister

The election for Prime Minister took place on 19 October 1993. Both main parties lobbied the smaller parties and independents for their support in the National Assembly; the PPP was successful and Benazir Bhutto was elected Prime Minister receiving 121 votes to 72 for Nawaz Sharif. Her position was strengthened by a strong performance by the PPP in the regional elections on 9 October, in which the PPP, with the help of its Alliance partners, managed to retake Punjab for the first time since 1971.

References

References

1. "ELECTIONS HELD IN 1993". [[Inter-Parliamentary Union]].
2. [[Dieter Nohlen]], Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I'', p678 {{ISBN. 0-19-924958-X
3. Gargan, Edward A.. (19 July 1993). "Pakistan Government Collapses; Elections Are Called". [[The New York Times]].
4. (20 April 1993). "Pakistan Seeks 2-Party Cabinet". [[The New York Times]].
5. (29 May 1993). "The Verdict on Two Courts; Judicial Courage in Pakistan". [[The New York Times]].
6. (19 July 1993). "Top Two Political Powers Resign in Pakistan – Benazir Bhutto Sees Opportunity To Regain Status". [[The Seattle Times]].
7. Gargan, Edward A.. (8 October 1993). "Bhutto Wins Plurality and Faces a New Struggle". [[The New York Times]].
8. Gargan, Edward A.. (6 October 1993). "After a Year of Tumult, Pakistanis Will Vote". [[The New York Times]].
9. (18 October 1993). "Second Time Lucky?".
10. (29 September 1993). "Gunmen kill former high-ranking official in Pakistan".
11. Moore, Molly. (20 October 1993). "Bhutto Elected Pakistan's Premier, Says She Hopes to End Isolation". [[The Washington Post]].