Posted 5th December 1970
Following mass protests in 1968, General Yahya Khan became President of Pakistan with a promise to transfer power from the military dictatorship to the people.
In January 1970, Yahya announced that a ban on political activity had been lifted and that elections would be held in October. In March he laid out the rules under which the election would take place, these rules were known as the Legal Framework Order (LFO).
The LFO set out a number of of restrictions upon the policies that the parties could enact following the election. The three most controversial are listed below.
1- The "territorial integrity" of Pakistan had to be assured. This meant that under no circumstances could the AL set wheels in motion towards independence for East Pakistan.
2- A new constitution for Pakistan had to be agreed upon within 120 days of the National Assembly being called. If this did not happen, the Assembly would be dissolved and elections repeated. Also, the National Assembly would not be able to act on anything else until the constitution was agreed. Yahya's critics claim that he knew this would be an impossible task and constant elections would result in the military clinging on to power. Yahya himself insisted that the measure was designed to produce urgency among politicians to define a new Pakistan.
3- The new constitution would have to be personally approved by Yahya. Naturally this was seen as undermining the whole democratic process. In reality though, Yahya would be unable to disapprove of any constitution that adhered fully to the LFO.
Ultimately the elections were unable to take place in October due to catastrophic floods that engulfed Pakistan in August. As a result, polling was put back until December. A typhoon in October threatened to cause a second postponement, but partly due to the insistence of the AL, the election will go ahead on December 7th as planned.
Recently, Yahya's government have been criticised for a poor humanitarian response to the two natural disasters. Commentators are split on if or how this will have a major effect on the elections.
Following mass protests in 1968, General Yahya Khan became President of Pakistan with a promise to transfer power from the military dictatorship to the people.
In January 1970, Yahya announced that a ban on political activity had been lifted and that elections would be held in October. In March he laid out the rules under which the election would take place, these rules were known as the Legal Framework Order (LFO).
The LFO set out a number of of restrictions upon the policies that the parties could enact following the election. The three most controversial are listed below.
1- The "territorial integrity" of Pakistan had to be assured. This meant that under no circumstances could the AL set wheels in motion towards independence for East Pakistan.
2- A new constitution for Pakistan had to be agreed upon within 120 days of the National Assembly being called. If this did not happen, the Assembly would be dissolved and elections repeated. Also, the National Assembly would not be able to act on anything else until the constitution was agreed. Yahya's critics claim that he knew this would be an impossible task and constant elections would result in the military clinging on to power. Yahya himself insisted that the measure was designed to produce urgency among politicians to define a new Pakistan.
3- The new constitution would have to be personally approved by Yahya. Naturally this was seen as undermining the whole democratic process. In reality though, Yahya would be unable to disapprove of any constitution that adhered fully to the LFO.
Ultimately the elections were unable to take place in October due to catastrophic floods that engulfed Pakistan in August. As a result, polling was put back until December. A typhoon in October threatened to cause a second postponement, but partly due to the insistence of the AL, the election will go ahead on December 7th as planned.
Recently, Yahya's government have been criticised for a poor humanitarian response to the two natural disasters. Commentators are split on if or how this will have a major effect on the elections.