IMPACTS OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS OF 1965 ON THE HISTORY OF PAKISTAN

Abstract

The presidential elections of 1965 have a great importance in the history of Pakistan and far-reaching effects on the political and social system of the country. When Ayub Khan’s first term as the President of Pakistan, the title which he adopted as Martial Law administrator was ending, therefore, he announced presidential elections of 1965 to have the legitimate right to rule. To win the election from a proper political platform and backing, he established his own party, the Convention Muslim League (CML). While on the other hand, the five secular, religious and provincial opposition parties formed an alliance which was named as the Combined Opposition Parties (COP). Surprisingly, the alliance nominated the sister of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammd Ali Jinnah as its presidential candidate instead of a male candidate from the parties to the alliance itself. The nomination of Ms. Fatima Jinnah was not only a political move of the opposition but a female candidate for the first time in the history of the country contested a male candidate in the presidential elections who had all the government and state machinery at his disposal. The COP though lost the elections but gave tough time to Ayub Khan under the leadership of Ms. Fatima Jinnah who was seen and treated as the symbol of federation. This current study explores that how General Ayub Khan succeeded in defeating the COP candidate, Ms. Fatima Jinnah in the presidential elections of 1965 and what impacts it has left on the later history of the country?