How successful was Benazir Bhutto as the PM of Pakistan between the

years (1988-1990). Explain your answer.

DOMESTIC POLICY:

Benazir Bhutto (B.B) promised to make Pakistan a purely democratic country. She took some steps in this
regard, e.g. she released the political prisoners, and lifted ban on student and trade unions. Thus this was
success as she proved that her government believed in political freedom, and was far better, as compared to
Zia’s dictatorship.

B.B established ‘First Women Bank’, where females provided banking facilities to the women of Pakistan.
Thus this was a success as it not only meant more job opportunities for women, but was also an attempt to
protect their rights in the male dominating society of Pakistan.

B.B started “People’s works Program”, and according to this programme, electricity was provided in many
rural areas of Pakistan. Thus this shows her commitment to improve the standard of living, of the people
living in remote areas.

…However, she was unable to keep her promises. For example, she could not improve the welfare
services, and did not repeal the Hudood & Zina ordinance (as it affected women adversely). Thus this
disappointed people of Pakistan and the support for her rule reduced.

Benazir also did not fulfill her commitments regarding her economic development of Pakistan, which
disappointed the people. Instead, there was a high rate of inflation and unemployment. Thus this was a
failure as people greatly criticized her government, as their financial problems increased during her rule.

B.B took some steps in favour of Sindhis e.g. Sindhi was made compulsory in educational institutions of
Sindh, and seats were also reserved for Sindhis in provincial administration. Thus this delighted the Sindhi
community, and the support for her rule increased, because their cultural and political rights were being
protected.

…However, it annoyed the Urdu-speaking people of Sindh, who were more educated than Sindhis and
they rendered such steps as a special favours for Sindhis. Thus, this reduced her support, as many of the
Urdu-Speaking people joined MQM, a regional party of the Urdu-Speaking people.

FOREIGN POLICY

B.B’s father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto left the Commonwealth in 1971, when UK recognized Bangladesh.
However, Benazir felt that it was important organization for Pakistan’s political and economic prosperity.
Therefore, she rejoined it, which improved Pakistan’s international image, and the relations with UK and other
members of the Commonwealth.

B.B organized the fourth SAARC Summit, which was also attended by the Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi. Thus, this
helped to improve Pak-Indo relations, as three different peace agreements were signed between the two
countries.

B.B also visited USA in 1989, and tried to convince their officials that Pakistan did not have the nuclear
weapons, but has the right to do so for its defense. However, the US government was not convinced. Thus
it worsened Pak-US relations as it meant that the USA was not ready to lift the economic and military
sanctions under the Pressler Amendment.
How successful was Benazir Bhutto as the PM of Pakistan between the
years (1993-1996). Explain your answer.
DOMESTIC POLICY:
Benazir came into government with an “Agenda for change”. She promised to improve women situations,
and she also said that separate women courts and police stations would be established. However, no
legislations were introduced in this regard. Thus this disappointed the people of Pakistan, especially women,
who felt betrayed as B.B did not fulfill her promises.

B.B had to face a lot of opposition from Nawaz Sharif, the leader of opposition alliance in the National
assembly. He started a Train March against Benazir Bhutto in 1994, in which he travelled from Karachi to
Peshawar by train, and at different railway stations, he made critical speeches against B.B’s government. In
this way, he was successful in arranging large scale strikes against Benazir. Although Benazir reacted by
arresting some opposition leaders, however, it had no affect but rather increased her opposition even more.

B.B was involved in family feuds as well. Her brother Murtaza Bhutto, who was abroad, used to criticize
her for betraying the principles of their father. He also criticized the increased role of Asif Ali Zardari
(Benazir’s husband) in PPP, as he was accused of corruption. Later when he came to Pakistan, he was at
first arrested, and later killed in a police ambush just outside his house in Karachi. A judicial inquiry
suggested the involvement of the government in the assassination of Murtaza Bhutto. Although Benazir
denied such involvement, however, the assassination of Murtaza Bhutto badly damaged the democratic image
of her government.

B.B being an economist, herself took the charge of economy policy of Pakistan, but during her time,
Pakistani Rupee depreciated by 30% against US dollar. GDP fell from 6% to 4%. Large scale manufacturing
growth reduced drastically. Thus, her poor economic policies created financial crisis in Pakistan so the people
had to suffer economically.

FOREIGN POLICY
During the rule of B.B, the new US president Bill Clinton wanted to have good relations with Pakistan, and
so he sent his defense secretary William Perry to Pakistan in 1993 who admitted that the Pressler
Amendment was a mistake. Thus this helped to improve the relations as it meant that soon the US would lift
sanctions and provide economic and military aid to Pakistan.

In 1996, B.B visited USA and following her visit Brown amendment was passed by the US parliament. This
allowed the USA Government to return the payment of (28) F-16 and they also approved military support
of $ 388 million for Pakistan and so the relations improved as they were trying to strengthen Pakistan’s
defense.

…In 1996, Hillary Clinton, the first lady and her daughter Chelsea visited Pakistan as a gesture of goodwill,
which brought Pakistan and US closer and their relations improved.