Pakistan: A Step in the Right Direction

When Pakistan became independent in 1947, Britain bequeathed it a parliamentary system. Not until last week, however, did Pakistan's rulers get around to adopting a feature normally associated with such a system: nationwide general elections. From the rugged Khyber Pass at Afghanistan's doorstep to the Chittagong Hills near the jungles of Burma, some 40 million voters turned out at polling places. Despite their newness to the process, they seemed to know exactly what they wanted. Picking their way through the conflicting claims of 20-odd parties, they gave an overwhelming endorsement to only two of them, thereby laying the foundation for what could become a stable, two-party system. They also established the leaders of the two parties as politicians to be reckoned with for some time to come in the world's fifth most populous (130 million) nation. They are East Pakistan's Sheik Mujibur Rahman, 48, head of the Awami League, and West Pakistan's Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a former Foreign Minister and head of the Pakistan People's Party.

Elite Electorate. If Pakistan was slow to adopt the vote, it was because of the turmoil that has embroiled the nation for all of its 23 years. Until 1958, Parliaments were indirectly elected. After Field Marshal Mohammed Ayub Khan seized power in that year, an elite electorate of village leaders and landowners, eventually numbering 120,000, was selected to choose a National Assembly. Nearly two years ago, Ayub stepped down amidst bloody rioting as Pakistanis demanded basic social reforms such as a popularly elected parliament and an improved educational system.

Army Commander Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan took over and promised a return to democracy as soon as conditions were right. Unlike many another strongman, he apparently means to keep his word. Last week's elections were held to choose delegates to a constitutional convention. When the delegates meet in January, they will have 120 days to draft a document that meets Yahya's approval. If they fail, he will order new elections; if they succeed, they will stay on as members of a 313-seat National Assembly.

A Pledge of Purbodesh. The big man at the constitutional convention will be "Mujib" Rahman, whose Awami League captured all but two of the 153 seats contested in East Pakistan. Seven East Pakistan seats reserved for women and nine more seats in the cyclone-ravaged coastal areas will be decided in a few weeks. The Awami League is virtually certain to win all 16, pushing its total in the projected National Assembly to a commanding 167.