Despite the return of democracy, Benazir Bhutto wasn’t too pleased about the fact that she did not have complete executive power as the prime minister. Since the moment she became prime minister, she had been telling her associates to be very cautious. It was only later that her inexperience, negligence and self-centred approach proved to be disastrous for her premiership.

On the other hand, President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, armed with draconian laws including the Eighth Amendment, came across as politically impotent, did not want to be (soft?) like Fazl Ilahi Chaudhry, president in the PPP’s first government. He conveyed his concern through various channels, which was actually a message to Benazir that she did not have a free hand. Under the Constitution, Khan had taken oath as acting president the day Gen Zia’s plane crashed but the Constitution required a permanent president. However, the strained relations between the president and prime minister meant that an election for a new president were on hold.

Ishaq Khan enjoyed the support of Nawaz Sharif, the businessman-turned politician from Punjab. Shocked at the election results and the PPP’s victory, Sharif began campaigning for Ishaq Khan. In order to run a hassle-free administration, Benazir had to mend fences with Ishaq Khan.

She therefore had accepted the proposition of working alongside Ishaq Khan, after obtaining a pledge from him, that he too would reciprocate with his support. In the same manner, she agreed to extend her party’s support to him for the presidential election.

Benazir’s second premiership began with presidential polls and ended with dismissal of her government

It might have been an easy victory for Ishaq Khan, but Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, a senior politician and a former opposition leader who was not in favour of Ishaq Khan being elected unopposed, decided to contest for the august office.

The presidential polls were scheduled for December. Nawabzada was a highly respected political leader committed to democracy and would never let anti-democratic forces go unchallenged. Earlier, during Ayub Khan’s era, he had opposed the creation of the National Assembly through indirect elections (the Basic Democracy system) in 1962. It was during these days when there was a lull on the political horizon that he began his speech in the National Assembly with the couplet Har shakh pe oloo betha hai, anjam-i-gulistan kiya hoga, applauded greatly following the pin drop silence.

Similarly, he had persuaded Fatima Jinnah to contest presidential elections in 1964 and expose the tactics played by Ayub Khan to win the presidential race. In 1969, he successfully formed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a five-party alliance which became instrumental in the removal of Ayub Khan. In 1977, too, he played a significant role in forming the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) which finally led to the ousting of Z.A. Bhutto’s government.

Nawabzada had hoped that smaller parties and groups in the National Assembly would support him outright but they were so few that he could bag only 91 votes, while Khan with the support of two major parties secured 348 votes.

In the centre, Benazir formed a coalition with Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP). However, in the provinces too, the results were not favourable for her. In the NWFP, the IJI won 28 seats, the PPP 20 and the NAP 12 out of 77 seats. In Balochistan’s 34-seat house, the PPP won three seats while IJI and JUI-F won eight seats each, while the rest went to independent candidates.

The governor of Balochistan, Lt-Gen (rtd) Musa Khan dismissed the assembly even before a provincial government could be formed. However, in January 1989, Balochistan High Court restored the assembly. The dissolution of the Balochistan Assembly did not augur well and needed careful handling.

The worst show of politics was seen in the Punjab, where Muslim League-Nawaz emerged as the largest party with 108 seats in a house of 260 members. The PPP lagged behind with 93 seats. In a strange manner of voting in Punjab, 41 members were elected as independents.

In Sindh, the home province of Benazir, the PPP won 67 seats in a house of 114 members, with the MQM bagging 26 seats followed by 16 independent members. Since the IJI had not found a footing in the province till then, it could only secure one seat.

Although the PPP could have formed an independent government in Sindh, the situation there was quite different from the rest of Pakistan. With the MQM having won 26 seats in urban Sindh, it was the obligation of the majority party to include the MQM in the government. After a number of consultative meetings, the PPP and MQM agreed on a long charter of cooperation with the latter pledging support to PPP in both federal and provincial governments.

The agreement resolved that the coalition government would protect and safeguard the interests of all the people of Sindh, irrespective of language, religion or origin of birth as well as stamp out violence and support the rule of law. However, the coalition moved with certain difficulties which affected the overall administration in Sindh.

Urdu-speaking students had begun taking part in activities under the banner of All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organisation in 1984. They contested local politics in 1987 a and after the 1988 elections, their party became a part of the PPP-led coalition government. Reports of continued violence from Karachi and other parts of Sindh put pressure on the leadership of both parties. With no end in sight to the violence, the coalition government came to an end on May 1,1989 —just six months into the partnership. Three MQM ministers resigned but the party leadership decided that it would continue to support the PPP in the centre. The cooperation continued till Aug 6, 1990 when the PPP government was dismissed by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan on charges of misgovernance and corruption.

shaikhaziz38@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, July 10th, 2016