The Islami Jamhoori Ittehad in the 1988 Elections: Formation, Internal Dynamics, and Limits of Coalition Politics in Pakistan

The Islami Jamhoori Ittehad in the 1988 Elections

Abstract

This article analyzes the formation, internal dynamics, electoral strategy, and political performance of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) in Pakistan’s 1988 general elections. Established primarily to counter the electoral strength of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the IJI was a heterogeneous coalition comprising factions of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), National People’s Party (NPP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-D), and several smaller groups. Using qualitative analysis of party documents, election manifestos, press reports, and secondary sources, the study argues that the alliance was weakened by ideological incompatibility, organizational fragility, and intense leadership rivalries. The research highlights that the IJI lacked a clear and binding manifesto, as disagreements persisted over Islamization, the Afghan issue, and governance priorities. Contentious seat-sharing arrangements and candidate selection processes generated widespread dissatisfaction among coalition partners, resulting in defections, independent candidacies, and fragmentation of the anti-PPP vote across provinces. These problems were particularly visible in Punjab, Sindh, NWFP, and Balochistan, where intra-alliance conflicts overshadowed coordinated electoral campaigning. Despite these limitations, the IJI succeeded in emerging as the main opposition bloc and formed the provincial government in Punjab under Nawaz Sharif. This success, however, owed more to the organizational strength of the PML and Sharif’s personal political influence than to coalition unity. The article concludes that the IJI represented an opportunistic electoral arrangement rather than a principled alliance, illustrating the structural weaknesses of coalition politics in Pakistan’s transitional democratic phase and the difficulty of sustaining cohesion in alliances formed primarily in opposition to a dominant political rival.