- Title: PAKISTAN: POLITICAL PARTIES PREPARE TO FIGHT NOVEMBER ELECTION
- Date: 20th October 1988
- Summary: 1. SVs Supporters of Benazir Bhutto's PPP at rally, armed men attending, address by candidates Rashid Rabani and Aziz Meman. 0.58 2. SVs President of Punjabi Pukhtoon Ittehad (PPI), Malik Sawar Awan on rostrum being applauded by crowd (3 SHOTS). 1.12 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 4th November 1988 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: VARIOUS, PAKISTAN
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA7C9WWU37968JTK5IKFWKKSEAW
- Story Text: VARIOUS, PAKISTAN
Pakistan's political parties were preparing for the November 16 general elections on Wednesday. Two major political groupings have emerged, one led by Benazir Bhutto -- the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) - and one led by former Prime Minister Mohammad Khan Junejo -- the Pakistan Moslem League (PML).
Nominations for the 237-seat national assembly closed on Saturday (October 15). The electoral commission has allotted 82 election symbols for use on ballot papers, as about 75 per cent of Pakistan's population is estimated to be illiterate.
The PML has joined the nine-party Islamic Democratic Alliance to form an election pact against Bhutto's PPP. It uses the symbol of the bicycle, while Bhutto's PPP uses the symbol of the sword.
Bhutto's PPP is the largest single political party in Pakistan. Its recently-published manifesto calls for conciliation and the rebuilding of the country after 11 years of rule by President General Mohammad Zia-Ul-Haq who was killed in a plane crash on August 17. An Air Force report said the crash was "most probably" caused by sabotage.
Bhutto's father, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was deposed by Zia in 1977 and later hanged. Seat allocations in the national assembly have been a cause for division between the PPP and smaller parties fighting the election in alliance with Bhutto, who has said that their claims for seats are out of proportion to their support.
<strong>Source: REUTERS - FREDERIC FABRE</strong> - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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