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Pakistan
Islami Jamhoori Ittehad
The Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) was formed in September 1988
to oppose the Pakistan's People Party (PPP) in elections that
year. The alliance comprised nine parties, of which the major
components were the PML and the Islamic Organization (Jamaat-i-Islami--JI).
The IJI won only fifty-three seats in the National Assembly, compared
with ninety-two won by the PPP. Most IJI seats were won in Punjab.
Nawaz Sharif emerged from the 1988 elections as the most powerful
politician outside the PPP. In December 1988, he succeeded in
forming an IJI administration in Punjab and became the province's
chief minister. It was from this power base that he waged the
political battles that eventually led to his becoming prime minister
in 1990. In the supercharged atmosphere of the 1990 elections,
the electorate surprised observers. Neither the IJI nor the PPP
was expected to come up with a firm mandate to rule. Yet the IJI
received a strong mandate to govern, winning 105 seats versus
forty-five seats for the Pakistan Democratic Alliance (PDA)--of
which the PPP was the main component in the National Assembly.
In the 1993 national elections, the IJI coalition no longer existed
to bring together all the anti-PPP forces. The religious parties
expended most of their energies trying to form a workable electoral
alliance rather than bolstering the candidacy of Nawaz Sharif,
the only person capable of challenging Benazir.
Data as of April 1994
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