Islami Jamhuri Ittihad Islamic Democratic Alliance اسلامی جمہوری اتحاد | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | IJI IDA |
| Leader | Nawaz Sharif |
| President | Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi |
| Secretary-General | Abdul Ghafoor Ahmed |
| Founder | Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi Muhammad Khan Junejo |
| Founded | November 8, 1988; 36 years ago (1988-11-08) |
| Dissolved | July 18, 1993; 31 years ago (1993-07-18) |
| Succeeded by | PMLN |
| Headquarters | Islamabad |
| Ideology | Conservatism Ziaism (factions) |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Religion | Islam |
| Slogan | Nau Sitaray Bhai BhaiBenazir ki Shamat Aai[1] (lit. 'Nine Stars are brothers, here comes Benazir's trouble') |
| Seats in theNational Assembly (before dissolution) | 111 / 207 |
| Party flag | |
 | |
TheIslami Jamhuri Ittihad (IJI)[a] was aright-wing conservative alliance formed in September 1988 to oppose the democratic socialistPakistan Peoples Party in elections that year.[2] The alliance comprised nine parties, of which the major components were thePakistan Muslim League (PML),National Peoples Party (NPP) andJamaat-e-Islami (JI), with PML accounting for 80% of the IJI's electoral candidates. TheInter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, under directorHamid Gul, had a major role in forming the right-of-centre political alliance.[3][4] Care had been taken to ensure that the alliance comprised nine parties to generate comparison with the nine-partyPakistan National Alliance (PNA) that had campaigned against PPP in 1977.[5] The IJI was considered aZia ul-Haq loyalist alliance.
The head of the party wasGhulam Mustafa Jatoi, but its most resourceful leader wasNawaz Sharif, a young industrialist whom Zia ul-Haq had appointedchief minister of Punjab. Sharif was vying for control of the Pakistan Muslim League, which was headed at that time by former Prime MinisterMuhammad Khan Junejo.[6]
It won only fifty-three seats in theNational Assembly, compared with ninety-two won by the PPP. Most IJI seats were won inPunjab.Nawaz Sharif emerged from the 1988 elections as the most powerful politician outside the PPP. In December 1988, he succeeded in forming an IJI administration in Punjab and became the province's chief minister. It was from this power base that he waged the political battles that eventually led to his becomingprime minister in 1990. In the supercharged atmosphere of the 1990 elections, the electorate surprised observers. Neither the IJI nor the PPP was expected to come up with a firm mandate to rule. Yet the IJI received a strong mandate to govern, winning 105 seats versus forty-five seats for the Pakistan Democratic Alliance (PDA), of which the PPP was the main component in the National Assembly.[7] Opposition groups alleged large scale selective rigging of seats to not just ensure an IJI victory but also prevent those opposed to Military influence from being elected.[8]
In the 1993 national elections, the IJI coalition no longer existed to bring together all the anti-PPP forces. The religious parties expended most of their energies trying to form a workable electoral alliance rather than bolstering the candidacy of Nawaz Sharif, the only person capable of challengingBenazir Bhutto.
The following is a list of the nine allied political parties.[9]
| Party Name | Date Joined | Date Left | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pakistan Muslim League (PML) | |||
| National People's Party (NPP) | March 1992[10] | Dismissed | |
| Jamaat Islami | 5 May 1992[11][12] | Left in protest over the government's support of the Mujahidin government in Kabul, Afghanistan. | |
| Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Darkhwasty Group) | |||
| Nizam-i-Mustafa Group | |||
| Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith (Lakhvi group) | |||
| Jamaat-ul Mashaikh (Sahebzada Fazle Haq Group) | |||
| Azad Group | |||
| Hizbullah Jihad | September 1991[13] | Expelled due to association with opposition parties. |
Islami Jamhuri Ittihad was an establishment-backed political alliance against the Benazir Bhutto-led PPP, formed after doling out money to the politicians, which caused the PPP's defeat in the said general elections.In 1993, former Air Chief Asghar Khan had moved SC against foul play in the 1990 general elections. The case is also known asMehrangate scandal.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)