1993 Pakistani general election

General elections were held in Pakistan on 6 October 1993 to elect the members of National Assembly. The elections took place after both the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan resigned to resolve a power struggle.[1]

1993 Pakistan general election

October 6, 1993 (1993-10-06)

207 of 237 seats in National Assembly
104 seats needed for a majority
Turnout40.3% ( 5.2%)
  First party Second party
 
Leader Benazir Bhutto Nawaz Sharif
Party PPP PML(N)
Leader since 10 January 1984 18 July 1993
Leader's seat Larkana Lahore
Seats before 44 111
Seats after 89 73
Seat change 45 38
Popular vote 7,578,635 7,980,229
Percentage 37.9% 39.9%
Swing 1.1 2.4%

Winning party by constituency

Prime minister before election

Nawaz Sharif
IJI

Elected Prime Minister

Benazir Bhutto
PPP

Prior to the elections, the ruling Islami Jamhoori Ittehad alliance was dissolved due to clashes between its member parties. The alliance's place in the two-party system (alongside the Pakistan Peoples Party) was taken up by Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (N).

The elections were held under the caretaker government of Moeenuddin Ahmad Qureshi. Although the PML (N) received the most votes, the PPP won the most seats. After winning the support of minor parties and independents, Benazir Bhutto became Prime Minister for a second non-consecutive term. Voter turnout was 40.3%.[2]

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.[3] However, in April 1993 President Khan dismissed Sharif for corruption and called elections for 14 July after dissolving the National Assembly.[4] 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.[5]

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.[3]

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.[3][6]

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.[6] The interim government cut spending, introduced a tax on rich landowners and cracked down on corruption and drug traffickers.[7] 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.[1][7]

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.[1] 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.[8] Sharif stood on his record of privatisations and development projects and pledged to restore his taxi giveaway program.[8][9] Bhutto promised price supports for agriculture, pledged a partnership between government and business and campaigned strongly for the female vote.[9]

Opinion polls showed a very close election between the two main parties but there was a lot of cynicism among voters.[8] The army was credited with making sure that the election was fair and deployed 150,000 troops in polling stations to ensure this.[10]

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.[9] Islamic fundamentalist candidates did poorly in an election that was marked by a low turnout.[1] Turnout in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, was particularly low at 20% after one party MQM (A) boycotted the election.[10] International observers from 40 countries reported no serious irregularities in an election which was seen as the most free and fair since 1970.[7]

Parties Votes % Seats +/–
Pakistan Muslim League (N)7,980,22939.973New
Pakistan Peoples Party7,578,63537.989New
Pakistan Muslim League (J)781,6523.96New
Pakistan Islamic Front645,2783.23New
Islamic Jamhoori Mahaz480,0992.44New
Awami National Party335,0941.73–3
Mutehda Deeni Mahaz216,9371.12New
Pakhtun-khwa Milli Awami Party97,5410.53+2
National Democratic Alliance64,7130.31New
Jamhoori Wattan Party54,6070.320
Pakhtun-khwa Qaumi Party54,1440.31New
National Peoples Party (Khar)48,7210.21New
Balochistan National Movement (Hayee)47,6480.21New
Balochistan National Movement (Mengal)45,2280.21New
Other parties107,9790.50
Independents1,482,0337.416–6
Invalid/blank votes272,769
Total20,293,3071002070
Source: Nohlen et al.

Punjab

party votes % seats
Pakistan Muslim League (N)6,580,7424553
Pakistan Peoples Party5,722,8423950
Independent942,74865
Pakistan Muslim League (J)678,08656
Pakistan Islamic Front331,58720
Muttahida Deeni Mahaz152,76911
National Democratic Alliance64,60111
others75,04310
Total14,548,418100116

Sindh

party votes % seats
Pakistan Peoples Party1,611,1815232
Pakistan Muslim League (N)927,6733010
Independent256,6748 1
Pakistan Islamic Front81,78431
Islami Jamhoori Mahaz68,90720
National Peoples Party48,72121
others75,92230
Total3,070,93210045

KPK

party votes % seats
Pakistan Muslim League (N)545,3202610
Pakistan Peoples Party323,639155
Awami National Party307,967153
Pakistan Islamic Front258,687122
Independent235,684119
Islami Jamhoori Mahaz226,551112
Pakistan Muslim League (J)103,23150
Pakhtoonkhawa Qaumi Party41,16821
PDA40,04821
others28,87410
Total2,111,16910033

Balochistan

party votes % seats
Islami Jamhoori Mahaz126,509182
Pakistan Peoples Party121,944171
Pakhtoon Milli Awami Party94,809133
Pakistan Muslim League (N)68,856100
Independent61,88491
Jamhoori Wattan Party54,60782
Balochistan National Movement (Hayee)47,64871
Balochistan National Movement (Mengal)45,22861
Muttahida Deeni Mahaz35,80351
others100
Total722,77910012

Aftermath

Both main parties lobbied the smaller parties and independents for their support in the National Assembly. The PPP was successful and on 20 October 1993 Benazir Bhutto was elected Prime Minister receiving 121 votes to 72 for Nawaz Sharif.[11] 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.[1]

References

  1. "ELECTIONS HELD IN 1993". Inter-Parliamentary Union. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  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. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  4. "Pakistan Seeks 2-Party Cabinet". The New York Times. 20 April 1993. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  5. "The Verdict on Two Courts; Judicial Courage in Pakistan". The New York Times. 29 May 1993. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  6. "Top Two Political Powers Resign in Pakistan – Benazir Bhutto Sees Opportunity To Regain Status". The Seattle Times. 19 July 1993. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  7. Gargan, Edward A. (8 October 1993). "Bhutto Wins Plurality and Faces a New Struggle". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  8. Gargan, Edward A. (6 October 1993). "After a Year of Tumult, Pakistanis Will Vote". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  9. "Second Time Lucky?". Time. 18 October 1993. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  10. Gargan, Edward A. (7 October 1993). "Ex-Leaders Await Pakistan Vote Tally". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  11. Moore, Molly (20 October 1993). "Bhutto Elected Pakistan's Premier, Says She Hopes to End Isolation". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
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