Word: bhutto
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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National Alliance leaders said yesterday that demonstrators from all major cities will converge on Islamabad Tuesday to call for the resignation of President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his government...
...rare show of unity, however, nine opposition parties formed a coalition called the Pakistan National Alliance, which Bhutto contemptuously dismissed as "nine cats tied together by their tails." But the campaign-only the third since Pakistan became idependent in 1947-turned into an unexpectedly fierce contest. Just before the balloting on March 7, independent observers described the struggle between Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and the National Alliance as too close to call -and they now believe that in a fair contest, the alliance might have...
...reaction to the announcement that Bhutto's party had won an overwhelming victory-taking 155 parliamentary seats, v. 36 for the National Alliance-was outrage and disbelief. General strikes called by the opposition shut down the cities of Lahore, Karachi, Hyderabad, Rawalpindi and the capital of Islamabad. National Alliance candidates boycotted the subsequent provincial elections in the Punjab, Sind, Baluchistan and the North-West Frontier, even though they were favored to win majorities in the last two provinces. In addition, the opposition demanded 1) Bhutto's resignation, 2) the disbanding of the election commission for failing to conduct...
Warm Embrace. Aides to Bhutto conceded that "malpractices" had marred the results. The Prime Minister, though, flatly rejected demands for a new election. He said he would turn reports of irregularities over to the election commission, hinting that 20 to 25 seats in the assembly might be reversed in favor of the National Alliance. The opposition was not satisfied, believing it should have won 50 to 60 additional seats...
...took the oath of office last week, Bhutto proffered "a warm embrace, a handshake" to the opposition. He offered to lift the state of emergency, release political prisoners and relax press censorship if the National Alliance would promise an end to "agitational politics." Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, the only prominent opposition leader not in jail, called the proposal "political blackmail." Said he: "By trying to bargain with the opposition on the question of human rights, Bhutto is attempting to strengthen his rule over the country." With the politicians locked in a dangerous standoff, some observers feared that the next response might...