1st Regime of Benazir Bhutto

She became the first woman Prime minister of Pakistan. She had a 20-month tenure from December 1988 to August 1990

The Chief Of Army Staff during her tenure was General Mirza Aslam Baig

Compromise:

The difference with President Ishaq over judicial appointment,

She faced Troika (her power was shared between the COAS and the President) along with a lack of experience and expertise

She lacked the power she needed as PM since her party did not have an absolute majority in the National assembly

The 8th amendment gave the President more power. She tried to revoke it but she failed

She had to accept the informal arrangement by which the most important decisions were taken by a troika of herself, the president and the COAS

A no-confidence motion was faced against her just 11 months after starting her government and it failed by only a few votes, causing her to remain.

Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismissed her in 1990

The Strong Opposition:

The senate was dominated by the opposition

The Islamic democratic alliance was formed which formed opposition against Benazir. According to the Ulemas, women couldn't be the ruler of the state. Nawaz Sharif was the head of the IDA.

There was a division of power between the central and provincial governments. Nawaz Sharif wanted to divide all the responsibilities between both provincial and federal, which Benazir Opposed.

The PPP appointed Ghulam Mustafa Khar as Governor of Punjab, which Nawaz Sharif opposed.

Sharif claimed that the government was unable to make a strong plan for railways.

IDA took a strong anti-India position claiming that the government was too "soft" on India.

The government was unable to confront India on the Kashmir Issue

To build the government Miss Bhutto formed a coalition with the MQM ( A political party formed by the students of Karachi)

MQM then took a U-turn and joined Nawaz Sharif

Street Crime became very frequent

The Government made conspiracies against MQM. The police persecuted MQM under these conspiracies

Social Factors:

The government was unable to keep up with the projects of the country. There was more inflation and unemployment also increased

Drug trafficking and smuggling started to grow. Pakistan was ranked 2nd in the world in drugs use and trafficking

There was a lot of nepotism in the Benazir government which was due to the use of family members in the government. For example, she appointed her mother, Nusrat Bhutto as an official in the government without any credentials. Similarly, she appointed her father-in-law in charge of the parliamentary accounts committee.

The acceleration of corruption in Pakistan started in Benazir's time.

The Pucca Qila massacre of 1990 was the last straw on the camel's back for the Benazir government.

Evaluation Point:

To maintain her power and implement her programs, Benazir would have needed to manoeuvre successfully between a powerful president and the military elite to reach a political accommodation with MQM and Nawaz Sharif

Instead, she pursued a course of confrontation, including unsuccessful efforts to overthrow Nawaz in the provincial assembly. In addition, the failure of the PPP to share power and spoils with its coalition partners caused further alienation, including the withdrawal of MQM from the govt in October 1989

Image source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1366832/special-report-daughter-of-the-east-1988-19901993-1996

Notes by Miss Rizwana Nadeem (2023), compiled by Rayyan Jamil Khan of Class X-T Karachi Grammar School - College Section