1970 Pakistani general election information

1970 Pakistani general election
300 of the 313 seats in the National Assembly; 151 seats needed for a majority
Registered	56,941,500
Turnout	57.96%
	Results by constituency
Prime Minister before election; None (post vacant since 1958);	Elected Prime Minister ; Nurul Amin; PML

General elections were held in Pakistan on 7 December 1970 to elect members of the National Assembly. They were the first direct general elections since the independence of Pakistan and ultimately the only ones held prior to the independence of Bangladesh. Voting took place in 300 general constituencies, of which 162 were in East Pakistan and 138 in West Pakistan. A further thirteen seats were reserved for women (seven of which were in East Pakistan and six of which were in West Pakistan), who were to be elected by members of the National Assembly.^[1]

The elections were a fierce contest between two social democratic parties, the west-based Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the east-based Awami League. The Awami League was the sole major party in the east wing, while in the west wing, the PPP faced severe competition from the conservative factions of Muslim League, the largest of which was Muslim League (Qayyum), as well as Islamist parties like Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP).

The result was a victory for the Awami League, which gained an absolute majority, winning 160 of the 162 general seats and all seven women's seats in East Pakistan. The PPP won only 81 general seats and five women's seats, all in West Pakistan. In the provincial elections held ten days later, the Awami League again dominated in East Pakistan, while the PPP were the winning party in Punjab and Sindh. The Marxist National Awami Party emerged victorious in Northwest Frontier Province and Balochistan.

The National Assembly was initially not inaugurated as President Yahya Khan and the PPP chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did not want a party from East Pakistan in federal government.^[2] Instead, Yahya appointed the veteran Bengali politician Nurul Amin as Prime Minister, asking him to reach a compromise between the PPP and Awami League. However, this move failed as the delay in inauguration had already caused significant unrest in East Pakistan. The situation deteriorated further when Operation Searchlight occurred under the orders of Yahya resulting in a civil war that led to the formation of the independent state of Bangladesh.^[3] The Assembly was eventually inaugurated in 1972 after Yahya resigned and handed power to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Bhutto became Prime Minister in 1973 after the post was recreated by a new constitution.

^ Baxter, Craig (1971). "Pakistan Votes -- 1970". Asian Survey. 11 (3): 197–218. doi:10.2307/3024655. ISSN 0004-4687. JSTOR 3024655.
^ 1970 polls: When election results created a storm Dawn, 8 January 2012
^ History: Bhutto, Mujib and the generals Dawn, 4 May 2019

[1] Baxter, Craig (1971). "Pakistan Votes -- 1970". Asian Survey. 11 (3): 197–218. doi:10.2307/3024655. ISSN 0004-4687. JSTOR 3024655.

[2] 1970 polls: When election results created a storm Dawn, 8 January 2012

[3] History: Bhutto, Mujib and the generals Dawn, 4 May 2019

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Events
Partition of Bengal Bengali language movement Six point movement Agartala Conspiracy Case Eleven Points Programme East Pakistan mass uprising Pakistani general election Non-cooperation movement 7 March Speech Operation Searchlight Proclamation of Independence
Organisations
East Pakistan Renaissance Society Awami League United Front East Pakistan Communist Party Sarbadaliya Chhatra Sangram Parishad Swadhin Bangla Biplobi Parishad Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra
Key persons
Abul Kalam Shamsuddin Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury Mujibur Rahman Khan Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Serajul Alam Khan Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani Ataur Rahman Khan
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