ABSTRACT
The elections of December 1970 were a new experience for the people of Pakistan. The National Assembly elections on this occasion were to be by direct vote rather than through the mechanism of indirect representation under Ayub's Basic Democracy scheme. Bhutto's popularity began to rise in 1965. The results of the war and the Tashkent agreement produced a rift between Bhutto and President Ayub. A vehicle of social change advocated by Bhutto and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) was the nationalization of basic industries. In matters of foreign policy, the issue of Kashmir was central for the PPP. Bhutto split with Ayub over Kashmir, and his position remained one of no compromise on the subject: Kashmir should be part of Pakistan. The elections to the provincial and national assemblies which Yahya scheduled for October 5, 1970, would return power to civilian control. The election vividly described the political condition of Pakistan.
