chap 15: how effective were Paks govt in the final decade of twentieth century Flashcards
benazir bhutto...
background (recap)
1988 zia dismissed junejo as PM and promised elections within 90 days
zia died in Aug 1988
Ghulam Ishaq Khan became president and elections held in oct as per schedule
the elections brought power to PPP led by Benazir
Benazir Bhutto biography
daughter of former PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who had been arrested in 1977 and executed by zia in 1979
she remained under house arrest
1981: more than 5 months in solitary confinement
1984: exile in London
1985: returned for her bro Shahnawaz funeral but was arrested for participating in anti govt rallies, following her release she went into exile again, returning when zia ended martial law 1986
return greeted w enthusiasm and she began campaigning for zia resignation and for national elections
elected co-chairwoman of PPP along w her mom
when PPP won the 1988 elections, she became first woman to serve as PM in an Islamic country
BB as PM: political opposition: Mian Muhammmad Nawaz Shariff
in elections PPP gained majority in Sindh only
largest party in NA
President Ishaq Khan asked Bhutto to become PM but to do so she had to form a coalition
made alliance w Muhajir Quami movement (MQM) which represented Muslims who had migrated from India following partition
fierce opposition from Islami Jamhuri Itehad (IJI) led by Nawaz Shariff who controlled provincial govt of Punjab
BB popular cuz of her dad but she also faced opposition from his enemies
major opposition came from Nawaz Shariff who hailed from one of Paks wealthiest families
sm opposition that in oct 1989 (11 months after takin office) the opposition parties organized a no confidence motion in NA, which got 107 votes, 12 short from 119 it needed to force BB to step down
tho she defeated this motion, her govt was srsly damaged by this affair
differences w president Ishaq
clashes bw BB and Ishaq
major area of disagreement was over appointments to positions in the military and judiciary
Ishaq considered such appointments to be right of president, not PM
He refused to agree to several appointments and dismissals she wanted to make in military = further tension
policies: inflation, unemployment and drug trafficking
in her first address BB promised to create a Pak which was democratic but guided by Islamic principles
this meant moving away from zia’s pro isl policies , restoring political freedoms and introducing health and social reforms
took some measures eg
ending ban on trade unions, restoring student unions, releasing political prisoners, took first step towards spreading electricity across rural pak
however many promises not fulfilled; no new laws introduced to improve welfare services or help women, hudood and zina ordinances not repealed
BB complained it was difficult to pass legislation bec the senate was dominated by opposition
this plus the short time she was in power made it difficult to concentrate of legislation and reforms
govt lost support due to its inability to deliver its promised employment and economic development programs. inflation and unemployement = high and rapid increase in country population = already overburdened edu and health systems could not cope
govt also failed to deal w country’s growing drug abuse problem
problems in Sindh
Sindh had been stronghold of Z.A Bhutto but was also an area of growing opposition to rule of PPP
Bhutto had made study of sindhi compulsory in schools and reserved a number of posts in the administration for sindhis
however there was a large number of muhajirs, many of whom were well educated, urdu speakers who opposed special rights for sindhis and supported MQM
Foreign policy
BB had more success in her foreign policy
she took Pak into the commonwealth and hosted the 4th SAARC summit conference in Dec 1988
as a result of improved relations at the conference, Pak and India were able to sign 3 separate peace agreements
BBs greatest achievement in foreign policy came in June when she made an official visit to USA in 1989 to meet w president Bush and other govt officials. visit = great success and did much to restore good relations bw the two countries
the govt dismissed
BBs govt had to deal w accusations from its political opponents that it encouraged corruption
BBs husband Asif Ali Zardari accused of taking rake-offs on govt deals
arrested on charge of blackmail and jailed for 2 yrs
PPP believes that these charges were politically motivated and Zardari = innocent
however, tales of corruption further weakened govt
w growing unemployment and strikes, President Ghulam Ishaq Khan used the 8th amendment to dismiss Bhutto govt
he said his actions were justified cuz of corruption, incompetence and inaction
following dismissal of BB, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, leader of a coalition of parties opposed to PPP, was asked to form a caretaker govt until elections were held in Oct 1990
BB complained that govt had been stolen from her and the fact that it was a member of the opposition who took power angered her further
Mustafa Jatoi asked to lead an investigation into the alleged corruption
BB asked to give evidence and was charged w corruption, but no further action was taken
in elections, IJI won comf victory
Nawaz Shariff = leader of Pak ML, largest party in alliance, and became PM
widespread accusations of vote rigging to ensure the PPP was defeated
BB became leader of opposition to Shariff govt
NS economic policy
shortly after taking power, he announced that his govt would carry out a national reconstruction program to industrialize Pak
he believed that unemployment = Paks greatest problem and that only industrial growth could solve it
modernize country by making effective use of its natural resources and best use of its plentiful manpower
wanted to follow a policy of privatisation of the industries which had been nationalized under Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
believed that partnership bw govt and priv sector = boost economy
a number of imp industries (shipping, electricity supply, airlines and TC) opened up to priv sector
introduced several large scale projects to stimulate economy eg Barotha Hydro Power Project and Gwadar miniport in Balochistan
tried to solve the unemployment problem by importing thousands of taxis and providing cheap loans to buy them
many young men were employed but few loans were repayed
motorway project
one of NS major projects
building a fast transportation network to the central asian region where countries had gained independence from Russia and needed access to seaports
would also join major cities, stimulate economies and provide an alternative to the existing overburdened roads
estimated cost in the region: $989,000,000,000
although Paks first motorway (M2) was completed in Nov 1997 and was the first motorway to be built in South Asia, the project suffered from continual delays esp after General Musharraf called a temporary stop to the program in 1999
Loss of US aid
NS policies were undermined by lack of capital for investment
there was influx of foreign capital when he loosened foreign exchange restrictions and opened Pak’s stock market to foreign capital , but the govt remained short of funds for investment
USA had provided significant economic support during Soveit-Afghan war, but when the war ended that support was reduced
during the dispute over Paks nucleur weapons policy, the financial support almost dried up as the USA put pressure on Pak to end the program
the BCCI scandal
reduction in overseas aid, high govt spending and decrease in remittances from overseas workers in ME = severe pressure on Paks finances
further harmed when one of the major banks operating in Pak, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) collapsed in 1991
Bank had been founded by Agha Hasan Abedi in 1972 and within 10 yrs = worlds 7th largest bank concerns abt the banks lending practices = investigation by a British team of accountants in 1991 = BCCI engaged in widespread fraud and manipulation.
following this report, the bank closed and had to pay huge fines. Investors lost huge sums
cooperative societies scandal
cooperative societies: organisations which accept deposits from the members . they can use this money to make loans to members for purposes that are to benefit the society and its members
however, mismanagement of these societies = many pakis lost their savings when the states cooperative societies went bankrupt
investigation = some members of the national and local govt had not acted wisely in their rs w the cooperative societies and may have been granted loans incorrectly
result: some pakis blamed the govt for the collapse of the cooperative societies
loans were repaid but the scandal led to a decline in the PMs popularity
The Kalashnikov culture
the support for afghan warlords fighting the soviet union had an unfortunate effect on Pak
in some of the border tribal lands, gun carrying = part of the culture
this was reinforced during the war by the easy availability of weapons made in towns eg sialkot where russian kalashnikov guns were copied and sold cheaply
the govt had to deal w rampant crime and terrorism (a cause of alarm for the country particularly in Sindh)
kidnappings, bombings and murders = common, even though the police and the military worked hard to stop them
the flood of available automatic weapons fuelled the long standing ethnic and political rivalries
police increasingly outgunned and even foreigners were not immune from attacks
these problems also spread into some of major towns of pak as refugees from war flooded in and as drug addiction spiralled
estimated that by 1999 Pak may have had as many as 4M heroin addicts
situation became so bad that in 1991 NS had to cancel an imp trip to Japan to try to deal w violence at home
in an effort to stem violence, the govt ordered pakis to turn in their weapons, but few of em did
the govt also passed the 12th amendment to the constitution which provided for speedy trial courts to dispense summary justice
the opposition however, critisized the law as suppressing fundamental rights
shariat bill
as a senior member of zia’s govt, NS was strong supporter of Islam
May 1991, Shariat Bill passed, making the Quran and Sunnah law of the land as long as this did not challenge ‘the exisitng system of govt’
law not popular. opponents disliked the increased role of Islam in the govt and the fundamental Muslims in the alliance were disappointed that it did not go further
little was done to enforce the law
eg when federal shariat court asked for measures to be taken against payment of interest, no action was taken by the govt
