Elec-tion-ary: Gen Zia’s death and 1988 elections

Addressing the nation on July 20 1988, General Ziaul Haq had announced that elections would be held on November 16, 1988. However, he died in a plane crash on August 17 the same year along with a number of other senior military officers.

Ghulam Ishaq Khan took over as acting president as provided in the constitution. He immediately appointed the vice chief of army staff, General Mirza Aslam Beg, as chief of army staff while the new chief publicly assured that the army would not interfere in the political process anymore. The acting president announced that the election will be held on the date announced earlier.

(Courtesy: Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan, Free and Fair Election Network)

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2013.