CNN - Voters apathetic as Bhutto's re-election bid fails

Voters apathetic as Bhutto's re-election bid fails

'We are the clear winners,' says Sharif
February 4, 1997
Web posted at: 5:45 a.m. EST (1045 GMT) In this story:

Sharif promises not to seek vengeance
Integrity of both questioned
Women prevented from voting in northwest
Election workers reported abducted, one killed
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LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) -- Voters stayed away from the polls by the tens of millions as Pakistan returned former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to office rather than the incumbent and twice Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto.

An estimated 75 percent of Pakistan's nearly 56.5 million voters showed their distaste for the candidates, both of whom have been removed from office previously, by not voting.

Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League gained a clear majority in the National Assembly (lower house), according to official results Tuesday.

With 161 results declared for the 217-seat National Assembly, the PML had won 116 seats for a clear majority. Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party had won only nine, including her own.

Not only had Sharif won his home province of Punjab, but he also had reportedly made substantial gains in Sindh, Bhutto's home province.

"The results have shown we are the clear winners," Sharif said at his residence in the eastern Punjab capital of Lahore. "Our party is in power,"

Sharif urged Bhutto to accept defeat gracefully.

"I see no reason why she should not accept these results," he said.

Sharif promises not to seek vengeance

Sharif promised not to seek revenge on Bhutto for alleged victimization of his Pakistan Muslim League (PML) while she was in power and said he would not put her on trial.

He said the opposition and government should have a working relationship. "So what she did to us, we will not do to her."

Bhutto has vowed to contest the election if she lost.

President Farooq Leghari called national and provincial assembly elections -- being held on the same day for the first time -- after dismissing Bhutto November 5.

He accused her government of corruption, nepotism and being responsible for killings in Karachi. The Supreme Court ruled only that last week his action was justified, and some blamed the relatively short notice for the small voter turnout. The fact that millions of voters were observing the Muslim month of fasting known as Ramadan may also have been a factor.

Integrity of both questioned

Nevertheless, much has been made of the fact that the integrity of both Bhutto and Sharif has previously been called into question.

Bhutto was first elected in 1985, but was dismissed in 1990 on corruption charges. Sharif replaced her, and was himself dismissed on charges of dishonesty in 1993.

There were some charges of voting irregularities Monday, but international observers said they saw nothing serious. Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, leader of one team of observers, said the elections were free and peaceful.

"We are satisfied that those who wished to vote were able to vote, and in the way they wanted to, without any sense of oppression and without any sense of coercion," he said.

I.A. Rehman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan attributed the 25 percent turnout -- the lowest in the 12 years since the military turned the country over to democratic rule -- to apathy.

"Elections have become more and more irrelevant," he said.

"Public respect for political parties has plummeted, and democratic government discredited," agreed Fraser. "The massive fall in voters can only be attributed to voter disillusionment in their governments -- successive governments."

Women prevented from voting in northwest

Voting was allowed for the first time in the Northwest Frontier Province, though conservative Muslim leaders threatened to punish women who voted. Only men were seen at the polling booths.

At one polling station reporters saw election workers throw stones and verbally abuse a group of women's rights activists who tried to escort women to the polls. The women left without voting.

Election workers reported abducted, one killed

A militant ethnic party said 10 of its poll workers were abducted from a polling station despite the presence of troops, and one was beaten to death.

Sharif's Mohajir Qaumi Movement blamed one of its breakaway factions for the incident, in the port city of Karachi. The party said six workers were still missing hours after a group of men abducted them.

Reuters contributed to this report.