The elections of 1970: Awami League wins the historic mandate

General Yahya Khan succeeded Ayub Khan as President of Pakistan. He declared the general elections to be held  next year. In December 1970, the general elections were held on the basis of universal adult franchise and a  proportionate distribution of seats in terms of population between the two wings of Pakistan.

Awami League decided to fight these elections as a part of its struggle for self-determination for the  Bangalee people. Its election manifesto was the 6-point programme; its election symbol was ‘boat’. During the  election campaign, Bangabandhu termed the election was a referendum on the 6-point programme. During this  time, on November 12, a devastating cyclone laid waste the whole of Southern Bengal, killing half a million  people. The central government of Pakistan showed extreme callousness in the face of such a great human  disaster. Awami League capitalized on this issue during the campaign. Awami League won a stunning victory in  these elections, winning 160 out of 162 seats in East Pakistan. It bagged 72.57% of the total votes cast. AL  won a similar landslide victory in the provincial Assembly elections also - it won 288 seats out of 300 and  bagged 389% of total votes cast. Awami League won all the 7 women seats in the National Assembly and all the  10 women seats in the Provincial Assembly. The net result was, Awami League emerged as the single majority  party in the Pakistan National Assembly with 167 seats out of a total of 313. On the other side, Mr. Zulfiqar  Ali Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party won 88 seats (all from the western wing) and emerged as the second  largest Parliamentary group. These were the last general elections of the united Pakistan.