1965 Pakistani presidential election
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Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
's second Presidential Elections were held on 2 January 1965. The voting was to be indirect, as the
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
had to be elected by the 80,000 "basic democrats", who made up the Electoral College. These basic Democrats were basically democratically elected public representatives who served in the Divisional, District, Tehsil or Union councils. There were two major parties contesting the elections: the Convention Muslim League and the Combined Opposition Parties. The Combined Opposition Parties consisted of five major opposition parties, and had a nine-point program, which included restoration of parliamentary democracy and introduction of direct elections and adult franchise. The Combined Opposition Parties had no single leadership and were therefore, unable to select a presidential candidate from amongst themselves. Hence, they chose
Fatima Jinnah Fatima Jinnah ( ur, ; 31 July 1893 – 9 July 1967), widely known as Māder-e Millat ("Mother of the Nation"), was a Pakistani stateswoman, politician, dental surgeon and one of the leading founders of Pakistan. She was the younger sister of ...
as their candidate who was seen as an undisputed leader due to her relationship with
Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...
. Meanwhile, the candidate for Convention Muslim League was the incumbent President
Mohammed Ayub Khan Muhammad Ayub Khan (Urdu: ; 14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974), was the second President of Pakistan. He was an army general who seized the presidency from Iskander Mirza in 1958 Pakistani coup d'état, a coup in 1958, the first successful cou ...
.and other party Muhammad Irfan sameja


Election campaign

There were four candidates: Ayub Khan, Fatima Jinnah and two obscure people with no party affiliation. There was a short campaigning period of one month, which was further restricted to nine projection meetings that were organized by the Election Commission and were attended only by the members of the Electoral College and members of the press. The public was barred from attending the projection meetings, which would have enhanced Fatima Jinnah's image.


Ayub Khan

Ayub Khan had come to power in 1958 following the declaration of the
1958 Pakistani coup d'etat Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
. Since then, he had been serving as a President. He consolidated his position as a Constitutional ruler by drafting the 1962 constitution. At the time the elections were held, Ayub had introduced a number of Economic reforms that had increased the growth rate of the country and had also pulled it out of the severe economic crisis that had begun after the assassination of Prime Minister L.A Khan in 1951. This had made Ayub a popular ruler. Moreover, being the Commander in Chief of Army, he took several steps to turn the odds in his favour. He didn't even hesitate to legislate on electoral matters, giving him an edge over rival candidate, Fatima Jinnah.


Fatima Jinnah

The campaign of Fatima Jinnah suffered from a number of setbacks. An unfair and unequal election campaign, poor finances, and indirect elections through the Basic Democracy System were some of the primary problems she faced. However, she had overwhelming support among the public. Many had sympathies with her as she was the sister of
Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...
, whilst others saw her an excellent figure to challenge Ayub Khan's Military Dictatorship. Although many clerics had denounced her with the view that a woman cannot lead a Muslim state, several religious leaders also supported her. The
Jamaat-e-Islami Jamaat-e-Islami ( ur, ) () is an Islamic movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamic theologian and socio-political philosopher, Syed Abul Ala Maududi.van der Veer P. and Munshi S. (eds.''Media, War, and Terrorism: Responses fro ...
led by
Maududi Abul A'la al-Maududi ( ur, , translit=Abū al-Aʿlā al-Mawdūdī; – ) was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist and scholar active in British India and later, following the parti ...
, was a keen supporter of Ms. Jinnah's campaign as she was a conservative motivated by religious views, as compared to secular Ayub Khan.


Results and aftermath

The election results came in favour of the incumbent President Ayub Khan, who, despite losing the popular vote, won 62.43% of the Electoral vote, thanks to faithless electors. Fatima Jinnah won 35.86% of the electoral college votes. Ms. Jinnah was however extremely successful in some areas of the country. She had swept across major urban centres such as
Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
and
Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
. Ayub also faced disappointing results in
East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...
. However, Ayub had decisively triumphed in rural Pakistan. As majority of the Electoral College consisted of representatives from the rural setup, Ayub was able to win a clear majority. The election results were not accepted by the Combined Opposition Parties, who accused Ayub Khan of rigging. The COP staged demonstrations and protests, however, didn't gain much public support as Ms. Jinnah accepted the election results. The Election had an effective result. It further strengthened the role of Women in politics in Pakistan. Earlier there were only a handful of women politicians, however since this election women began to enter politics in large numbers and even started to contest for higher posts.


See also

*
Muhammad Munir Muhammad Munir (1895–1979) was the second Chief Justice of Pakistan serving from 1954 to 1960. Background Munir obtained his degree of master's in English Literature from Government College University Lahore, he joined Law College to earn his L. ...
*
Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...
*
1953 Pakistani constitutional coup Governor-General Ghulam Mohammad dismissed Pakistani Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin's government in 1953 despite the Prime Minister enjoying the support of the Constituent Assembly and, subsequently, dismissed Pakistan's first constituent ass ...
* National Awami Party


References

{{Pakistani presidential elections
1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...
1965 elections in Pakistan