تلخیص
The 2002 Elections in Pakistan were held under extra
ordinary circumstances. The terrorist attacks on the
Pentagon and the World Trade Centre on 11 September
2001 had changed the world politics and the foreign
policies of the countries all over the world. The US
government decided to attack Afghanistan to hit the
Taliban, accusing them for supporting 9/11 attacks and
announced to launch a global war against terrorism.
Pakistan was also forced to adopt the US policy as it was
the neighbouring country of Afghanistan and was among
those few countries that had recognized the Taliban
government in Kabul. Pakistan’s U-turn on its foreign
policy also affected the polls which were held a year
following the 9/11 incident. Muttahidda Majlis-i-Amal
(MMA), a religio-political alliance formed after the US
attack on Afghanistan, got unprecedented success in the
polls especially in the two Afghan bordering provinces.
The paper will examine the unexpected success of MMA
in 2002 Elections which was mainly due to the US war
against terrorism, change in Pakistan’s foreign policy
towards the US and Pakhtoon affiliation with the Afghan
people. Religious sentiments of the common people,
religious seminaries and unity among the religio-political
parties also contributed to the success of MMA. The
desire of General Pervez Musharraf to wipe the
mainstream parties out of the national scene and setting
up of a hung parliament in the country also contributed to
MMA’s success. It will be argued that MMA was a
temporary factor which appeared at political scene of
Pakistan in the wake of 9/11 and US attack on
Afghanistan and got success due to external factors
instead of its popularity among the masses.
Kamran Aziz Khan. (2011) 2002 Elections in Pakistan: A Reappraisal , Journal of Political Studies, Volume 18, Issue 1.
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