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All 217 seats in theNational Assembly 109 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 55,737,177 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 35.79% ( 4.23pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Map of Pakistan Showing National Assembly Cosntituencies and winning Parties | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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General elections were held inPakistan on 3 February 1997 to elect the members ofNational Assembly. The elections were a fierce contest betweenPakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by pre-electionPrime MinisterBenazir Bhutto and thePakistan Muslim League (N) led byNawaz Sharif. Unlike the 1990 elections where Sharif won due to allegations of rigging, this time he benefited from the controversial death of Bhutto's brotherMurtaza, a populist leader, a worseningeconomy, and alleged corruption cases against Bhutto's husbandAsif Ali Zardari.
The elections took place after the previous PPP government was dismissed byPresidentFarooq Leghari for matters of national security. Bhutto's government suffered withfinancial mismanagement,corruption charges,racial tensions in her nativeSindh Province, issues with thejudiciary, violations of theconstitution, and intra-party and family feuds. After the PPP government was dismissed, acaretaker government was formed under the leadership ofMalik Meraj Khalid.
The result was a landslide victory for the PML (N), which received most votes ever won by an opposition party at the time. This was the first time PML-N had won an election without being part of any alliance. Sharif subsequently became Prime Minister for a second non-consecutive term. The PPP meanwhile got wiped out, losing 71 seats and winning only 18 due to Bhutto's increasing unpopularity. Voter turnout was only 36.0%.[1]
The PPP won the largest number of seats in the1993 election and Benazir Bhutto became prime minister at the head of acoalition government.[2] However, on 5 November 1996, President Leghari, a former ally of Bhutto,[3] dismissed the government 2 years early for alleged corruption and abuse of power.[4] The allegations included financial mismanagement, failing to stop police killings, destroying judicial independence and violating theconstitution.[5] A number of PPP party members were detained including Bhutto's husbandAsif Ali Zardari who was accused of taking commissions for arranging official deals.[5]
A formerspeaker and member of the PPPMiraj Khalid was appointed interim prime minister. The National Assembly and provincial assemblies were dissolved and elections called for 3 February 1997.[5] Bhutto denied all the charges against herself and petitioned theSupreme Court to reverse her dismissal. However, the court ruled in January that there was sufficient evidence for the dismissal to be justified legally.[6]
Expectations in the lead up to the election were that up to 90 people, possibly including Bhutto and Sharif, might be prevented from standing in the election due to the caretaker governments campaign against corruption. However, by the end of December 1996 the government was forced to acknowledge that they were unable to find sufficient evidence to act against leading politicians. As a result, the election once again became mainly a contest between the PPP and the PML-N.[7]
Over 6,000 candidates stood in the election, with 1,758 standing for the National Assembly and 4,426 for the four provincial assemblies.[8] Major campaign issues included corruption, the economy, ethnic and religious conflicts and growingterrorism.[4] However, there was little enthusiasm for the fourth election in 8 years with polls showing only about 20% would vote.[9] Predictions of a challenge by a new anti-corruption party, theMovement for Justice, founded by formercricketerImran Khan, faded as Khan attempted to fend off personal attacks onPML(N) andNawaz Sharif. Most forecasts expected Sharif's PML-N to win the election, with them drawing larger crowds than the PPP and appearing to be supported by the army.[10]Opinion polls showed the PML-N leading the PPP by about 40% to 20%.[6]
The results saw the PML-N win a landslide victory, winning by the largest margin since the1977 election.[11] Bhutto's PPP was routed, and came second nationally with only 18 seats, and for the first time failing to win any seats in Punjab. Khan's Movement for Justice failed to win any seats.[11] The turnout, at around 36%, was the lowest ever in the history of elections in Pakistan.[12] Voting in three seats was delayed; the subsequently by-elections saw two seats won by the PML(N) and one by the Awami National Party.[13]
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pakistan Muslim League (N) | 8,751,793 | 44.88 | 135 | +62 | |
| Pakistan Peoples Party | 4,152,209 | 21.29 | 18 | −71 | |
| Muttahida Qaumi Movement | 764,207 | 3.92 | 12 | New | |
| Pakistan Muslim League (J) | 624,286 | 3.20 | 0 | −6 | |
| Awami National Party | 357,002 | 1.83 | 9 | +6 | |
| Pakistan Peoples Party (Shaheed Bhutto) | 377,228 | 1.93 | 1 | New | |
| Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) | 325,910 | 1.67 | 2 | New | |
| Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf | 314,820 | 1.61 | 0 | New | |
| Balochistan National Party | 124,754 | 0.64 | 3 | New | |
| National Peoples Party (Khar) | 85,121 | 0.44 | 1 | 0 | |
| Baloch National Movement | 72,354 | 0.37 | 0 | New | |
| Jamhoori Wattan Party | 66,128 | 0.34 | 2 | 0 | |
| Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party | 58,552 | 0.30 | 0 | –3 | |
| Muslim Ittehad Pakistan | 49,601 | 0.25 | 0 | New | |
| Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (S) | 48,838 | 0.25 | 0 | New | |
| Pakistan Democratic Party | 47,153 | 0.24 | 0 | New | |
| Pakistan Muslim League (Qayyum) | 37,723 | 0.19 | 0 | New | |
| Pakistan Awami Party | 31,615 | 0.16 | 0 | New | |
| 30 other parties | 88,429 | 0.45 | 0 | – | |
| Independents (Muslims) | 2,690,164 | 13.80 | 21 | +5 | |
| Non-Muslim seats | 432,553 | 2.22 | 10 | 0 | |
| Vacant | 3 | – | |||
| Total | 19,500,440 | 100.00 | 217 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 19,500,440 | 97.75 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 448,829 | 2.25 | |||
| Total votes | 19,949,269 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 55,737,177 | 35.79 | |||
| Source: Nohlenet al. | |||||
Nawaz Sharif described the results as reflecting the country's desire for an end to chaos.[11] Benazir Bhutto had threatened to not recognise the results if the PPP lost, but despite alleging that election officials had rigged the election by filling in extra ballots, she did not call for protests, saying that Pakistan needed political stability.[4][11][12] International observers from theEuropean Union and theCommonwealth of Nations said the election met basic conditions but would not describe it as 'free and fair'.[4]
The election for Prime Minister took place on 17 February 1997. Nawaz Sharif was confirmed as prime minister by the National Assembly receiving 177 votes against 16 for the PPP candidateAftab Shaban Mirani.[14] He took office on 18 February with a new cabinet named on 26 February.[4][14]
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nawaz Sharif | Pakistan Muslim League (N) | 177 | 91.71 | |
| Aftab Shaban Mirani | Pakistan Peoples Party | 16 | 8.29 | |
| Total | 193 | 100.00 | ||
| General elections | |
|---|---|
| Provincial elections | |
| Referendums | |
| By-elections | |
| |
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