1990 Pakistani general election

General elections were held in Pakistan on 24 October 1990 to elect the members of the National Assembly. The elections were primarily a contest between the People's Democratic Alliance (PDA, a four party alliance led by the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of Benazir Bhutto) and the conservative nine-party alliance, Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) headed by Nawaz Sharif.

1990 Pakistani general election

← 1988 24 October 1990 1993 →
All 217 seats in National Assembly 109 seats seats needed for a majority
Turnout	45.17%
First party Second party   Leader Nawaz Sharif Benazir Bhutto Party PML PPP Alliance IJI PDA Last election 56 seats 94 Seats after 106 44 Seat change 50 50 Popular vote 7,908,513 7,795,218 Percentage 36.54% 36.01%
Winning party by constituency
Prime minister before election Benazir Bhutto PPP Elected Prime minister Nawaz Sharif IJI

President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dissolved the National Assembly and dismissed Bhutto's government in August 1990 on charges of corruption and maladministration.^[1] However, the PPP was still extremely popular and there was a fear amongst anti-PPP forces that it might be re-elected. Numerous steps were taken by Ishaq with help of the military establishment to sway the results in favour of the IJI, including the appointment of IJI chairman Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi as caretaker Prime Minister.^[2] Despite their efforts, the PPP remained ahead in opinion polls.^[3]

However, the result was a surprise victory for the IJI, which won 111 of the 207 general seats (a further ten were reserved for minority voters). The PDA won just 44 seats amidst a voter turnout of only 45%. The IJI's parliamentary leader Sharif became Prime Minister while Bhutto became the Opposition Leader. In 2012 the Supreme Court ruled that the elections had been rigged.^[3]

Background

Further information: Jatoi caretaker government

The PPP led by Benazir Bhutto had won a plurality of seats in the 1988 election and Bhutto became Prime Minister. 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.^[4]

Parties

The PPP formed an alliance with three other parties, Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqh-e-Jafariya, Tehreek-e-Istiqlal and the Pakistan Muslim League (Chatta), running under the name People's Democratic Alliance.^[5][6]

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.^[7]

At the end of the campaign Bhutto led hundreds of thousands of supporters in a procession in Lahore, while Sharif held a rally for about ten thousand nearby.^[8]

Electoral fraud

Main article: Electoral fraud in Pakistan

On 19 October 2012, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled on a petition by Asghar Khan, requesting that the court probe allegations that the 1990 elections had been rigged. The court officially ruled that two Army Generals – Mirza Aslam Baig and Asad Durrani (Head of the ISI) – along with President Ghulam Ishaq Khan – had provided financial assistance to favoured parties.^[9] The motive was to deliberately weaken the mandate of the Pakistan Peoples Party. It was believed that the PPP, led by Benazir Bhutto, was a liability to the nation.^[10]

Results

IJI won the popular vote by a very narrow margin of only around 100,000 votes, but the narrow victory in the popular vote translated into 106 seats for IJI against the PDA's 44 seats. The popular argument regarding PDA's huge loss of seats is that the PDA's vote, despite being almost equal to that of IJI, was much more spread out whereas IJI's vote bank was more concentrated. This resulted in PDA candidates losing in IJI won seats by narrow margins.

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Islami Jamhoori Ittehad	7,908,492	36.54	106	+50
	People's Democratic Alliance	7,796,238	36.02	44	–50
	Haq Parast	1,171,525	5.41	15	New
	Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F)	622,214	2.87	6	−1
	Awami National Party	356,160	1.65	6	+4
	Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (Noorani)	310,953	1.44	3	New
	Pakistan Awami Tehrik	237,492	1.10	0	New
	Jamhoori Wattan Party	129,431	0.60	2	New
	Pakistan National Party	127,287	0.59	2	+2
	Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party	73,635	0.34	1	New
	Sindh National Front	51,990	0.24	0	New
	Pakistan Democratic Party	51,645	0.24	0	0
	Balochistan National Movement	51,297	0.24	0	New
	Pakistan Hindu Party	33,847	0.16	1	New
	Sindh National Alliance	31,125	0.14	0	New
	Pakistan Masihi Party	23,050	0.11	1	New
	Pakistan Masihi Ittehad	19,534	0.09	1	New
	Punjabi Pakhtun Ittehad (Sarwar Awan Group)	17,967	0.08	0	New
	United Christians Front	14,594	0.07	0	–1
	Awami Tehreek (Paleejo Group)	14,307	0.07	0	New
	Pakistan Christian Association	14,271	0.07	0	New
	Qaumi Inqilab Party	12,931	0.06	0	New
	Pakistan Muslim League (Qayyum)	8,521	0.04	0	0
	Punjabi Pakhtun Ittehad (Mir Hazar Khan)	2,489	0.01	0	New
	Pakistan Seriaki Party	2,160	0.01	0	New
	Saraiki Qaumi Ittehad	2,023	0.01	0	New
	Jamaat-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat Pakistan	1,992	0.01	0	0
	Pakistan Aqiliati Ittehad	1,969	0.01	0	New
	Pakistan Christian Congress	835	0.00	0	New
	Hazara Front (Mahaz-e-Hazara)	678	0.00	0	0
	Pakistan Mazdoor Kissan Party (Fatehyab Group)	647	0.00	0	New
	Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (Niazi)	412	0.00	0	New
	National Democratic Party	204	0.00	0	0
	Sindh National Alliance (Hamida Khuro Group)	139	0.00	0	New
	Independents	2,554,201	11.80	29	−19
Total		21,646,255	100.00	217	0
Valid votes		21,646,255	98.92
Invalid/blank votes		235,849	1.08
Total votes		21,882,104	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		48,952,991	44.70
Source: CLEA

References

1. A Leaf From History: Ghulam Ishaq invokes Article 58-2(b), sends Benazir packing Dawn, 15 January 2017
2. An overview of 1990 general elections: The game gets dirtier Dawn, 12 April 2013
3. 1990 election was rigged, rules SC Dawn, 19 October 2012
4. Crossette, Barbara (6 May 1990). "Crime Weakens Support for Bhutto, Even in Her Traditional Power Base". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
5. Crossette, Barbara (26 September 1990). "Karachi Journal; With the Chips Down, Bhutto's Ace Is Her Father". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
6. Pakistan: Information on an alliance between the People's Democratic Alliance (PDA) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Refworld
7. Crossette, Barbara (21 September 1990). "Bhutto Gaining as Charges Remain Unproved". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
8. "World". The Seattle Times. 23 October 1990. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
9. Mufti, Mariam (19 June 2018). "Who rigs polls in Pakistan and how?".
10. "Asghar Khan case short order: Full text". The Express Tribune. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2012.