Pakistan People's Party Rwp

and announced elections for December 1970. The PPP contested these elections on the slogans of "ROTI, KAPRA AUR MAKAN" (bread, clothing and shelter) and "all power to the people." The masses responded heavily to it in the polls, where PPP won 81 of 138 seats allocated to West Pakistan in the National Assembly (a total of 300 seats were contested for in both wings of the country ), coming in as the second largest party after East Pakistan - based Awami League. At the provincial level, it won majority in Sindh and Punjab legislatures. There were not enough means and time to organize and carry the message of PPP to East Pakistan. The PPP, therefore, confined its election activities to West Pakistan and fielded its candidates in that wing. When Army rulers refused to transfer power to Awami League, which had won an absolute majority in the national legislature, a bloody civil war broke out in East Pakistan leading to Indian Military intervention defeating Pakistani Army. The humiliated army Generals had to step down. Bhutto took over as Chief Martial Law Administrator and President. Martial Law was lifted on the following April when interim constitution was passed by the National Assembly within a short span of four months after assuming office. During its Government from Dec. 20, 1971 to July 5,1977, the PPP government made significant social and economic reforms that did much to improve the life of Pakistan's impoverished masses. It also gave the country a new Constitution and took many other steps to promote country's economic and political recovery after the disastrous years of military rule. PPP remained the only concrete hope for a better future of the poor masses. When elections were called by Mr. Bhutto for March 1977 nine opposition parities gathered together to pool their strength and formed Pakistan National Alliance (PNA). Although this alliance had several important centrist parties as its members, it was heavily dominated by the right - wing religious parties such as the fanatical Jamaat-I-Islami. This gave its election campaign a fundamentalist coloring expressed through the slogan for " Nizam-I-Mustafa" (Islamic system). PPP promised in its 1977 manifesto the consolidation of its achievements made during the first term. PNA, because of its obscurantism, failed to attract the broad masses. All independent estimates predicated a PPP victory in March. However, when the election produced this victory, returning 155 PPP. candidates to the 200 members National Assembly as opposed to only 36 PNA candidates (the 7 seats from Bluchistan were not contested by the PNA), the PNA did not accept the results. (Indeed, in the face of all predictions, it had said before the elections that it would accept nothing but an outright victory for itself). Charging rigging and fraud, it unleashed its campaign of violence and openly called for the military to take over the government. Despite government's offers for compromise and a settlement for fresh general elections having been arrived at between the Government and the opposition, the PNA movement did not let up until the military led by General Zia-ul-Haq staged a coup d'etat and seized power on July 5,1977. Bhutto was symbol of Reform and Reconstruction. Bhutto master minded Pakistan's first Steel Mill, a second Port and commissioned Pakistan's first hydro electric dam on the mighty Indus at Tarbela. He made Pakistan self sufficient in the filed of fertilizers, sugar, and cement. He nationalized Banks and Life Insurance Companies, he also initiated Pakistan’s Nuclear Programme.

1972 Land Reforms slashed the individual holding to 150 acres of irrigated or 300 acres of un-irrigated land. In 1977 the ceiling was further reduced to 100 acres of irrigated and 200 acres of un-irrigated land. The Islamic Summit was held in Lahore attended by all the heads of Muslim states. Thus making Pakistan a center of Islamic Unity. To his credit are the Electrical Mechanical Complex at Wah, The Aeronautic Complex at Kamrah, The Kahuta Project for Nuclear Bomb. He made education upto Matric free, provided books free to the students, provided allowances to unemployed graduates and two increments to Science Graduates in their salaries, thousands of Government employees who were not confirmed for over 5 to 15 years were confirmed in their jobs. The system of part time government employees was changed to whole time government employees. First May was declared public holiday. The economical policies of Z.A. Bhutto were anti-imperialist based on state socialism following the mould of other Third World leaders such as Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Ahmad Soekarno of Indonesia, and his own contemporary Salvador Allende of Chile who was elected, over thrown and assassinated during the same period. The Neo-Colonialists made a "horrible example" of Bhutto for his anti-Imperialistic stance, his efforts to unite Islamic World, and his demarche towards bringing Third World on one Platform apart from the Nuclear issue. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was a man of multidimensional qualities. He was a political philosopher and at the same time implemented his political philosophy. He master minded a political party and made it a mass movement. He was an articulate mass orator and a superb diplomat. Taking the country out of chaos he was the driving force to effectively establish an organized government machinery. He was never vindictive. He faced death bravely. Immediately following the coup, the Martial Law regime let loose a baseless campaign against the PPP and its leaders. Bhutto was framed on a murder-conspiracy charge and executed, rather judicially assassinated-on April 4, 1979. While leading a procession in Lahore the police hit Begum Bhutto on her head who had been elected the Acting Chairperson of the Party following the arrest of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in September,1977. Benazir Bhutto who was elected as Co-Chairperson of the party, following the disqualification of Begum Nusrat Bhutto, in February,1978 suffered impairment in hearing during incarceration. Hundreds of party workers were put to death. Thousands were lashed and tens of thousand suffered long imprisonments and detention in jails and torture cells. Even women were not spared. Not a single PPP. worker betrayed the party despite temptations by Martial Law Authorities. Despite inexplicable repression, PPP. survived and indeed, gained in strength. Its own activists reaffirmed their resolve to fight against the criminal dictatorship. Segments of masses which had become alienated from it, now rallied to its support. The progressive forces outside the PPP. began to cooperate with it. The leadership of the party was in the hands of Mrs. Nusrat Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto-Bhutto's widow and daughter respectively who gave it a renewed sense of radicalism. The PPP. accepted the challenge of General Zia when Ms. Benazir Bhutto commanded the party workers and supporters that party would fight on all fronts - at the polls as well as in the field demonstrations, public meetings and protests. So the party participated in the non-party local bodies elections. It swept the polls throughout the country from Karachi to Khyber, the urban as well as rural areas, and washed away the impression that PPP. has lost its popularity or mobilization capacity. It paved the way for the political parties to unite. The proof of the party's centrality to the politics of Pakistan came when nine political parties, including some which had helped in its overthrow as member of the PNA, united with it in the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD). In its first statement issued in February, 1981, the movement demanded the holding of "free, fair, and impartial election". When the government failed to oblige, the MRD, in the summer of 1983, brought out its followers to confront the military in the streets of Sindh. Benazir Bhutto rescued and rebuilt the party from scratch, leading an epic movement for the restoration of Democracy, her historical welcome in Lahore on 10th 1986 was the turn of the tide. In the meantime Zia was digging his own grave. He dismissed his hand picked protege Muhammad Khan Jonejo and dissolved the National Assembly of Pakistan on May 29, 1988. A few days before his death, while revealing his plans for a presidential system, he told a confidante "I will be around a long time". Fate intervened on l7th August, 1988 when the C-130, carrying him crashed in a ball of fire and Zia went from ashes to ashes and his system from dust to dust. Public funds running over tens of crores and govt. resources were made available to political parties and individual leaders opposing Pakistan People's Party by the establishment to bar the way of success of PPP. at the polls.