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Pakistanportal |
Indirect presidential elections were held in December 1988 to elect the 7th President of Pakistan. The votes were given by the Electoral College of Pakistan, which had its new members in both national and provincial assemblies elected in the corresponding 1988 Pakistani general election.
The elections saw a deal struck between the already ruling Independent caretaker president, Ghulam Ishaq Khan and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) as well as the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI). With support from the two largest parties, Ishaq Khan won the elections with ease. [2]
The presidential elections were held after a decade of military rule, where the 6th president, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq ruled with the Armed Forces as military president and as Chief martial law administrator with authoritarian rule. Zia-ul-Haq would die in a controversial plane crash, which left the presidential office vacant, thus, the powerful Chairman of the Senate, Ghulam Ishaq Khan took over as empowered interim president.
The Revival of the Constitutional Order had amended the Constitution, which allowed the president to appoint any member of the National Assembly as prime minister. Ghulam Ishaq Khan appointed Benazir Bhutto as Prime Minister of Pakistan on the condition that she would give full support to him in the December presidential elections. [3] [4]
A political deal was made between Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Benazir Bhutto. The Pakistan Peoples Party assured that they would vote for Ghulam Ishaq Khan, as Ishaq Khan had appointed Benazir as prime minister. Ghulam Ishaq Khan was also the candidate of Islami Jamhoori Ittehad. [3]
4 candidates took part in the elections, with most of them minor candidates securing low votes from minor and regional parties.
Ghulam Ishaq Khan easily won the elections, due to the support and votes given to him by the 2 largest political groups, the right-wing Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) and left-wing Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), this support would allow him to secure the highest number of votes — 608 out of 752. [3]
The election of Ghulam Ishaq Khan as President would extend his already ongoing term. Since he ruled directly after Zia-ul-Haq’s presidency, he would be given high-level presidential powers, as Zia-ul-Haq ruled as an authoritarian president. The powers given to the President of Pakistan in Zia-ul-Haq’s time mainly consisted of the Eighth Amendment, in which the President could dissolve the government whenever he thought need be.
Benazir Bhutto would be ruling Prime Minister at the time of Ghulam Ishaq Khan’s presidency. She would be highly anti-Zia-ul-Haq and attempted to reverse his policies, mainly the Eighth Amendment. As Benazir was the Prime Minister, she wanted more power for the Prime Minister, and less for the President. These desires of Benazir Bhutto would consequently lead to a conflict with Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who would dissolve Benazir’s government, as she attempted to strip the Presidential powers via reversing the Eighth Amendment. [3]
Ghulam Ishaq Khan would rule the country for more than 4 years, following the election, and would come into conflict with both his former allies, the PPP and IJI, as he dissolved both Benazir Bhutto’s and Nawaz Sharif’s governments over the disputed Eighth Amendment. [3]
The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan allowed the President to unilaterally dissolve the National Assembly and elected governments. The National Assembly of Pakistan amended the Constitution of Pakistan in 1985 and the law stayed on the books until its repeal in 1997.
The President of Pakistan is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The presidency is a ceremonial position in Pakistan. The president is bound to act on advice of the prime minister and cabinet. Asif Ali Zardari is the current president since 10 March 2024.
Ghulam Ishaq Khan, commonly known by his initials GIK, was a Pakistani bureaucrat, politician and statesman who served as the seventh president of Pakistan from 1988 to 1993. He previously served as Chairman of the Senate from 1985 to 1988 under president Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, and was sworn in shortly after Zia's death.
Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari, was a Pakistani politician who served as the eighth president of Pakistan from 14 November 1993 until resigning on 2 December 1997. He was the first Baloch to be elected as President.
Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi was a Pakistani politician who served as the Caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan for three months, from 6 August 1990 to 6 November 1990.
The Pakistan Muslim League (J) Urdu: پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ج) is a political party in Pakistan established in 1988.
The Pakistan National Alliance, was a populist and consolidated right and left political alliance, consisting of nine political parties of the country. Formed in 1977, the country's leading right-wing parties agreed upon to run a political campaign as a single bloc against the left oriented PPP in the 1977 general elections.
Events in the year 1988 in Pakistan.
The Islami Jamhoori Ittehad was a right-wing conservative alliance formed in September 1988 to oppose the democratic socialist Pakistan Peoples Party in elections that year. The alliance comprised nine parties, of which the major components were the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), National Peoples Party (NPP) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), with PML accounting for 80% of the IJI's electoral candidates. The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, under director Hamid Gul, had a major role in forming the right-of-centre political alliance. Care had been taken to ensure that the alliance comprised nine parties to generate comparison with the nine-party Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) that had campaigned against PPP in 1977.
The National People's Party (NPP) was a political party located in Pakistan. It was founded in 1986 by Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi after he had a disagreement with Benazir Bhutto, subsequently leaving the Pakistan Peoples Party.
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.
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 and the conservative nine-party alliance, Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) headed by Nawaz Sharif.
The Mehrangate, also known as the Mehran bank scandal, was a major political scandal that took place in the Second administration of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 1990.
General elections were held in Pakistan on 16 November 1988 to elect the members of the National Assembly and Senate.
The first Nawaz Sharif government under prime minister Nawaz Sharif was sworn into office on 9 November 1990, after the nine-party Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) unanimously nominated him the government head.
Ghulam Dastgir Khan is a Pakistani politician who has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 1990 to 1999 and for brief in 1977.
Electoral fraud in Pakistan has history intertwined with military interventions and legal obstacles against political dissenters, impacting the democratic process. Since its inception in 1947, Pakistan experienced alternating phases of democracy and authoritarianism, with the first general elections held only in 1970. The early governance was managed by a Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, tasked with both administrative functions and drafting a constitution.
The first Benazir Bhutto government was formed on 2 December 1988 following general elections held in 1988. Due to the PPP only securing a plurality, the new government forged a coalition alliance with the MQM, ANP, JUI(FR) and other additional independents. Following elections President Ghulam Ishaq Khan called upon Benazir Bhutto, later announcing the formation of a new government. Benazir promised while taking oath on 2 December to eradicate illiteracy, poverty, restore student unions, liberate political prisoners, provide equal rights to women and free the media. However, the Army's continued influence and lack of a legislative majority led to her later declaring her government's freedom of action was "institutionally, economically, politically (and) structurally" constrained. Later during Presidential elections the same year, Benazir Bhutto solidified her alliance with President Ishaq Khan through supporting his bid for re-election. However later the two came into conflict, over the division of powers between the two offices and as the President continued to support Bhutto's opponent Nawaz Sharif. Eventually on 6 August 1990 Ghulam Ishaq Khan issued an order under Article 58(2)(b) dissolving the National Assembly causing the Prime Minister and the cabinet to cease holding office. The stated charges of dismissal for the Bhutto government were corruption and the deteriorating law and order situation in Sindh.
The Jatoi caretaker government was the first caretaker government in Pakistan from 6 August 1990 to 6 November 1990. Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi acted as the first caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan. The Jatoi government was appointed by Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who was president, after he dissolved the National Assembly and the PPP Bhutto government in August of the same year. Jatoi previously served as leader of the opposition in the assembly, whilst other caretaker ministers were selected based on their opposition to the PPP. Jatoi himself was a former Pakistan People's Party member who formed his own rival National Peoples Party (NPP) after a dispute with Benazir Bhutto. The caretaker government consisted of anti-PPP ministers in the provinces as-well. Ghulam Haider Wyne, an ally of Nawaz Sharif, was caretaker CM while in Sindh, caretaker CM Jam Sadiq Ali also opposed the PPP. Later Jam Sadiq Ali continued in office as Chief Minister following elections.