1970 Pakistani general election

E1003447

The 1970 Pakistani general election was the country’s first nationwide democratic vote, which led to a decisive victory for the Awami League in East Pakistan and ultimately precipitated the Bangladesh Liberation War and the breakup of Pakistan.

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Statements (51)

Predicate Object
instanceOf general election
historical event
constitutionalContext Legal Framework Order 1970 NERFINISHED
contributedTo Bangladesh Liberation War NERFINISHED
breakup of Pakistan in 1971
creation of Bangladesh
secession of East Pakistan
country Pakistan
electoralBody National Assembly of Pakistan NERFINISHED
followedBy 1977 Pakistani general election
hasEndDate 1970-12-07
hasStartDate 1970-12-07
intendedOutcome formation of a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution
languageOfCampaigning Bengali
Urdu NERFINISHED
leaderOfMainLoser Zulfikar Ali Bhutto NERFINISHED
leaderOfMainWinner Sheikh Mujibur Rahman NERFINISHED
legislatureSize 300
location East Pakistan NERFINISHED
West Pakistan NERFINISHED
mainLoser Pakistan Peoples Party NERFINISHED
mainWinner Awami League NERFINISHED
majorityThreshold 151
organizedBy Election Commission of Pakistan NERFINISHED
otherParticipant Council Muslim League NERFINISHED
Jamaat-e-Islami NERFINISHED
Pakistan Muslim League (various factions) NERFINISHED
partOf history of Bangladesh
history of Pakistan
politicalEffect constitutional deadlock between Awami League and Pakistan Peoples Party
intensified tensions between East and West Pakistan
marginalization of East Pakistani demands by West Pakistani establishment
precededBy Basic Democracies system NERFINISHED
indirect elections under Ayub Khan
relatedDocument Six-Point Movement manifesto of Awami League NERFINISHED
relatedEvent 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 NERFINISHED
Operation Searchlight NERFINISHED
result landslide victory for Awami League
no seats for Awami League in West Pakistan
no seats for Pakistan Peoples Party in East Pakistan
seatsForElection 300
seatsWonByAwamiLeague 160
seatsWonByAwamiLeagueInEastPakistan all but 2
seatsWonByPPP 81
significance first direct elections to the National Assembly of Pakistan
first nationwide one-person-one-vote general election in Pakistan
timePeriod Cold War era
turnout approximately 63%
underGovernmentOf Yahya Khan NERFINISHED
votingSystem first-past-the-post

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman notableEvent 1970 Pakistani general election
Pakistan Peoples Party participatedIn 1970 Pakistani general election
declaration of independence of Bangladesh precededBy 1970 Pakistani general election
subject surface form: Declaration of Independence of Bangladesh
Operation Searchlight crackdown precededBy 1970 Pakistani general election