1960 Pakistani presidential confidence referendum

1960 Pakistani presidential confidence referendum

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Do you have confidence in President Field Marshal Ayub Khan and the policies and programs adopted by him?
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 75,084 96.37% No 2,829 3.63% Valid votes 77,913 99.23% Invalid or blank votes 608 0.77% Total votes 78,521 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 80,000 98.15%

An indirect referendum on confidence in President Muhammad Ayub Khan was held in Pakistan on 14 February 1960, ^[1] with voters asked whether he should remain president for another five years, having held the position since 1958 after overthrowing the previous government in a military coup.

The vote was held under the basic democracy system introduced after the coup, under which indirect votes were carried out by a 80,000-member electoral college. Its members were elected from single-member constituencies (40,000 in each wing), one for every 600 voters. ^[2] The elections to the electoral college took place between December 1959 and January 1960 on a non-partisan basis (as political parties were banned). ^[2]

Around 96% of members of the electoral college voted in favour of Khan. ^[2] He was sworn in three days after the vote. ^[3]

Results

Choice		Votes	%
For		75,084	96.37
Against		2,829	3.63
Total		77,913	100.00
Valid votes		77,913	99.23
Invalid/blank votes		608	0.77
Total votes		78,521	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		80,000	98.15
Source: Feldman [4]

References

1. "Pakistan gives Ayub five-year mandate". The New York Times. 15 February 1960.
2. "elec-tion-ary [Election-in-1960]". The Express Tribune. 12 April 2013.
3. Stanley B. Sprague (2020). Pakistan Since Independence: A History, 1947 to Today. McFarland. p. 58. ISBN   978-1-4766-8151-1.
4. Herbert Feldman (1967). Revolution in Pakistan: A Study of the Martial Law Administration. p. 109.