Document #1233176
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
The results of the provincial elections
proved even more inconclusive. The Chief Ministers of Sindh and
North-West Frontier Province are both PPP members. In Baluchistan,
however, the IDA candidate forged a shaky alliance with the PPP to
become the Chief Minister, and in Punjab, the IDA has firm control
of the provincial assembly, with Nawaz Sharif as the Chief
Minister. [ Rashid, Ahmed, "The morning after", Far Eastern
Economic Review, 15 December 1988, p. 14.] This is the first
time in Pakistan's history that different parties have controlled
the National Assembly and the Punjab provincial assembly. The IDA
control of Punjab is seen as a serious challenge to Bhutto's
national government because the Punjab is a rich region with almost
two-thirds of the country's 100 million people. Punjabis have
considerable influence in political, military, and business
circles. [ Ibid.]
2) No information on "problems" experienced by members of the
Muslim League since the November 1988 elections is presently
available to the IRBDC. The Pakistan Muslim League (PML) was the
dominant political party in Pakistan from 1986 until 29 May 1988,
when Zia ul-Haq dissolved the government of (former) Prime Minister
Mohammed Khan Junejo (PML party). Before the end of August 1988,
the PML had broken into two factions. [ "Pakistan Moslem League
breaks into two factions", Globe and Mail, 27 August 198;
Husain Haqqani, "Shifting Sands of Patronage", Far Eastern
Economic Review, 22 September 1988, p. 35; Husain Haqqani,
"Power up for Grabs", Far Eastern Economic Review, 1
September 1988, p. 12.] The two groups were the "Fida" faction (led
by Mr. Fida Muhammad Khan, the former governor of the North-West
Frontier Provinces, and Mr Nawaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of
Punjab province), and the "Junejo" faction (led by former Prime
Minister Mohammed Khan Junejo). The Junejo group joined with the
Tehrik-i-Istiqlal and the Jamaat-i Ulemi-i Pakistan
on October 9 to form the Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PPA,
Pakistan People's Alliance). [ Keesing's Record of World
Events, Volume XXXIV, December 1988, p. 36347.] The stated aim
of the PPA was to work for an Islamic, welfare, parliamentary
system. [Ibid.] The Fida faction had joined with seven other
parties and groups to form the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI,
Islamic Democratic Alliance). The other parties in the IJI included
the Jamaati-i Islami, the National People's Party,
the Jamiatul Ulema-e Islam (Darkhwasty Group), the
Markazi Jamaat-i Ahle Hadith (Lakvi Group), Jamaat-ul
Mashaikh (Sahebzada Fazle Haq Group), Hizbe Jihad, the
Azad Group, and the Nizami-i Mustafa Group. [
Ibid.]
On 15 October 1988, the Junejo PML faction
joined the IJI, and its former alliance partners formed the
Pakistan Awami Ittehad. [ Ibid.] The Pakistan Awami Ittehad
gained only three seats in the November elections. [ Ibid.] Nawaz
Sharif was the only leader of the IJI to gain a seat in the
national assembly. [Keesing's, p. 36348.]
Although ethnic and religious tensions have
flared in recent months, this does not appear to be linked to the
political affiliations of those groups involved in inter-communal
clashes. [ See the attached article by Anthony Hyman, "The waning
of Benazir's honeymoon", The Middle East, May 1989, pp. 5-7;
"Religious Row: Fundamentalists take on Benazir", India
Today, 31 March 1989, p. 159; "Miffed Minorities", India
Today, 31 March 1989, p. 160.]