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    Lesson 17 - The General Elections of 1970 - MGRN

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    Lesson 17 - The General Elections of 1970 - MGRN

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    networking.bara
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    Lesson 17_The General Elections of 1970_MGRn

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    4 views3 pages

    Lesson 17 - The General Elections of 1970 - MGRN

    Uploaded by

    networking.bara

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 3

    This handout is prepared including online available data and maps for the students of HIS103_DHP_NSU only

    for their reading purpose.

    The General Elections of 1970

    Schedule for the General Elections

    Ayub Khan handed over power to General Yahya Khan on 24 March 1969. Yahya Khan
    imposed the second Martial Law on 25 March 1969. On 28 November 1969, Yahya Khan
    declared the schedule for general elections
    - National Assembly elections were scheduled for 5 October 1970
    - Provincial Assembly elections were scheduled for 22 October 1970

    Rules for the General Elections

    The ‘Legal Framework Order’ (LFO) was announced on 28 March 1970, containing the
    outlines of the elections.
    - The unitary status of West Pakistan was cancelled, and four old provinces in West
    Pakistan were revived.
    - The policy of ‘one person, one vote’ was adopted.
    - The number of seats in the National Assembly was fixed at 313 (including 13
    reserved seats for women)
    - East Pakistan to have 169 seats (162 + 7 reserved for women)
    - West Pakistan to have 144 seats (138 + 6 reserved for women)

    Jurisdiction of the New National Assembly

    - The new National Assembly to frame a new constitution for Pakistan within 120 days
    of its commencement; by failing to do so, it would stand dissolved
    - The National Assembly could also be dissolved if the President would not give his
    consent
    - Thus, the new National Assembly was supposed to be subservient to the will of the
    President

    The Elections

    - The Awami League and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), along with nine other
    political parties, participated in the elections. NAP (Bhasani) and the National League
    declined the polls.
    - The Awami League called the election a 'referendum for the ‘6-Point’ and ‘11-Point’
    - Awami League had its regional base in East Bengal, and the PPP had its regional base
    in West Pakistan.
    - The elections of the National Assembly were held on December 7 1970
    - The elections of the Provincial Assemblies were held on 17 December 1970

    Before the elections, a devastating cyclone attacked the coastal areas of East Pakistan. The
    cyclone of 12 November 1970 killed around 0.5 million people; many villages in the coastal
    areas were wiped out. Almost 3.6 million people were directly affected. Therefore, the
    elections in nine National Assembly seats and 21 Provincial Assembly seats in the cyclone-
    affected areas were held after one month. However, Yahya Khan showed gross negligence
    towards this disaster while Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his party stood by the victims.
    This handout is prepared including online available data and maps for the students of HIS103_DHP_NSU only
    for their reading purpose.

    Results of the Elections

    The Awami League won an absolute majority in the General Elections with 167 out of 169
    National Assembly seats in East Pakistan. The PPP won 88 out of 144 National Assembly
    seats in West Pakistan. However, the Awami League won no seat in West Pakistan.
    Conversely, the PPP won any seat in East Pakistan. On the other hand, the Awami League
    won 288 out of 300 seats in the Provincial Assembly of East Pakistan.

    Party-wise seats and votes in the National Assembly elections of 1970

    East Pakistan Provincial Assembly Election Results


    This handout is prepared including online available data and maps for the students of HIS103_DHP_NSU only
    for their reading purpose.

    Bhutto’s Demand: Agitation in East Pakistan

    PPP Chief Bhutto demanded that since the PPP represented Punjab and Sindh, no government
    could be formed without its support, while the Awami League cited the 'one person, one vote'
    policy. Bangabandhu declared the election results as the mandate for the ‘Six Point’ and
    ‘Eleven Point’.

    On 14 February, Yahya Khan called the National Assembly session on 3 March 1971. It
    would sit in Dhaka to frame a new constitution for Pakistan

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