Electoral Failure of Religious Political Parties in Pakistan: An Analysis with Special Reference to Jamaat-E-Islami

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1 Lyallpur Historical & Cultural Research Journal June 2015, Vol. 1, No. 1 [19-25] ISSN Print ISSN Online Electoral Failure of Religious Political Parties in Pakistan: An Analysis with Special Reference to Jamaat-E-Islami Umer Yaqoob 1, Tohid Ahmad Chattha 2 Abstract Since the inception of Pakistan the religious political parties are striving for the establishment of a true Muslim state and for the imposition of Shariah i-e the code of law derived from the Quran and from the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Despite the fact that Pakistan is the predominantly an Islamic country it is surprising that the religious political parties have failed to get an electoral success in various elections. There were many religious movements which were launched and supported by these religious political parties. For instance, 1953 Anti Ahmadiya Movement, 1977 Nizam-e- Mustafa Movement and the movement against Pakistan s alliance with America on war against terrorism after 9/11 attacks. Moreover these religious political parties always rallied the cause of independence of Kashmir and Palestine. This article attempts to analyze the relationship between religious political parties and politics of Pakistan. For having a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon there has been examined the electoral performance of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan in various elections as a case study. In addition this article is aimed at exploring the reasons behind the failure of religious political parties in the electoral process in a country like Pakistan where the masses are principally influenced by religion. Keywords: Religious political parties, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Maulana Maududi, electoral failure. Introduction Since the inception of Pakistan the religious political parties are striving for the establishment of a true Muslim state and for the imposition of Sharia. Despite the fact that Pakistan is the predominantly an Islamic country it is surprising that the religious political parties have failed to get an electoral success in various elections. On the contrary, these religious political parties have always proved to be very influential pressure groups. There were many religious movements which were launched and supported by these religious parties as the revivalist Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and the orthodox Deobandi Jamiat Ulema-e- Islam (JUI) being the most influential of all for the imposition of Sharia and in the favor of Islamic system for instance, 1953 Anti Ahmadiya Movement, 1977 Nizam-e-Mustafa Movement and the movement against Pakistan s alliance with America on War on Terror. This article will lead to answer the question about the 1 Lecturer Department of History & Pakistan studies, Govt. College University, Faisalabad 2 Ph. D Scholar, Department of History, the University of Punjab, Lahore.

2 Electoral Failure of Religious Political Parties in Pakistan electoral failure of religious political parties. Particularly Jamaat-e-Islami will be examined as a case study in order to understand this whole concept. A Brief Overview of Jamaat-e-Islami Jamaat-e-Islami is one of the most influential religious political parties in Pakistan. The Jamaat is the most disciplined and internally most democratic of Pakistan s religious parties, in addition to also being the oldest. Jamaat-e-Islami was founded by Syed Abul Ala Mawdudi in 1941(Khan, 2013). Abul Ala Mawdudi was born in Hyderabad in Although he had very few years of formal education but he was self-taught in Islam. He had a great command on Arabic language. He started his career as a journalist and remained attached with number of newspapers and magazines. Like, Urdu Weekly Taj, Al- Jamaat and Tarjuman-ul-Quran (Khan & Akhtar, 2015). Mawdudi chided Muslims for having eliminated politics from religious life, which he believed to be the result of gradual deviation from Islam s true teaching(ushama & Osmani, 2006). The Jamaat changed from a holy community to an electoral body in In the beginning however, its purpose was not to contest elections. The concept of the Islamic way of life remains central to the Jamaat-e- Islami s mandate and ideology, as does the commitment to establishing a political and social system governed by Sharia. The party s manifesto emphasizes personal transformation through obedience to Allah and living as a true Muslim rather than political or economic goals(nasr,1994). Structurally Jamaat-e-Islami has an exclusive membership procedure. It is a wellorganized political party. The membership of Jamaat-e-Islami is renewed annually. The central Amir is elected for five years term while the provincial and district Amirs are elected for three years terms by the full members (Nasr, 1994). Moreover, Jamaat-e-Islami is very coherent and disciplined religious party mainly consists of urban middle class, professionals and youth of Pakistan(International Crisis Group,2011).

3 Yaqoob & Chattha Electoral Performance of Jamaat-i-Islami in Various Elections Jamaat-e-Islami s electoral record has not remained very impressive, being the largest religious political party in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The electoral performance of Jamaat-e-Islami in various elections is as follows. The very first time Jamaat-e-Islami contested general elections in 1970 and the number of seats it won were only four. In 1977 Jamaat-e-Islami formed alliance with Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) and was the part of the controversial elections which were blamed to be rigged. In Zia s era, Jamaat-e-Islami twice won the Mayor ship of Karachi in 1979 and 1983,but it could not retain its success in 1987 s elections. In the elections of 1985 again out of the 44 candidates of Jamaat-e-Islami only six managed to won. While in 1988 s elections Jamaat-e-Islami contested elections as the part of Islami JamhuriIttehad (IJI) and could win only six seats. In general elections of 1990 Jamaat-e-Islami contested elections again as Islami JamhuriIttehad s (IJI) part and showed a little better performance from the previous elections and the number of seats it won were eight. In the elections of 1993 Jamaat-e-Islami made a new alliance with Islami Jamhuri Mahaz and Muttahida Deeni Mahaz under the title of the Pakistan Islamic Front Platform. However, this time Jamaat-i-Islami s performance was worst of all and it got only three seats. The 1996 elections were however boycotted by Jamaat-e-Islami on the grounds of lack of accountability and consequent participation of the corrupt candidates. On the other hand, in the same time Jamaat-e-Islami s provincial performance was not up to the mark. They were not able to win a single seat in Sindh and Baluchistan since Also their performance was not very impressive in Punjab and NWFP. It got only six seats in Punjab since 1990 with two each in 1985 and three in 1988.while in NWFP Jamaat-i-Islami s seats were between two and four. In the elections of 2002 under the Pervez Musharraf s regime Jamaat-e-Islami made an alliance with five other religious political parties under the banner of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal(MMA) and for the first time in the history of Pakistan 21

4 Electoral Failure of Religious Political Parties in Pakistan religious political parties showed great electoral success and they were also able to make their provincial governments in Baluchistan and NWFP. However, that success was not only due to their religious agenda rather there were many other factors behind this. For instance, those elections were heavily rigged by Musharraf s regime and its military government supported the six party religious alliance to neutralized its major opponents like Pakistan People s party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz(PML-N).Musharaf wanted to create a third political support in future. On the contrary Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal ( MMA) also cashed America s attack on Afghanistan and contested elections on the basis of anti-america slogans. The Jamaat s politics, and especially the manner in which they have changed over time, are a function of the party s experiences with the political processes in Pakistan and the vicissitudes of its continuous interaction with other actors in the political arena (http;//na.gov.pk/en/members_listing. php?party). In 2008 elections which were again boycotted by Jamaat-e-Islami because they did not want to contest elections under the President ship of General Pervez Musharraf. Last time elections were held in May, 2013 in which Jamaat I Islami was able to manage one of the three general seats from the following constituencies NA-28 Bunair MrSher Akbar Khan, NA-33 Upper Dir Sahabzada Tariq Ullah and NA-34 Lower Dir Sahabzada Muhammad Yaqub. In addition they got one seat on reserve seats for women. So in total they have only four seats in the house of 342 (Pirzada, 2000). Reasons for the Electoral Failure of Religious Political Parties The electoral failure of religious political parties in Pakistan needs deep scrutiny of available literature regarding these parties, their organization and functions. We also need to answer this question that despite their electoral failure and narrow support base these parties proved to be the more difficult opposition to various governments time by time. They are always on the forefront of the movements for establishment of Muslim state and sometimes are able to blackmail the sitting governments for specific policy changes.

5 Yaqoob & Chattha Second amendment in 1974 in the constitution in which Qadiyanis were declared as non-muslims is classic example of their pressure tactics. There are many reasons for their electoral failure. Most importantly these parties are divided on the sectarian lines and represent different sects. This political structure of the religious parties has had an adverse effect on their popularity. For their political survival, therefore some of the religious parties have sought refuge under the banner of Sectarianism (Ali,1997). The two most influential religio political parties Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam incline towards Deobandi school of thought on the other hand, the majority of Pakistani Muslims belong to Brailvi sect. So they do not support these parties.. This is also the case with other religious parties like Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP),Sunni Tehreek and Tehreek-i-Nifaz-i-Fiqa-i-jafaria (Ali,1997). They also strive to promote their own sect so the sectarian difference always caused electoral failure of these parties. On the other hand the religious political parties of Pakistan are facing great leadership crises and they are not able to produce leaders as the stature of their founder. For instance, Jamaat-e-Islami is not able to produce a charismatic leader like Mawlana Abul Ala Mawdudi, which causes the decline of its popularity among masses. Same crises are faced by Jamiat Ulema-E-Islam. Because after mufti Mehmood the credibility of the party leadership has always been questioned by the masses. The religious political parties of Pakistan also lack mass appeal and they are not able to turn their supporters into their voters. Because mostly they are confined to one area or one sect and their manifestoes are not universal or they do not have attraction for all the segments of the society. Their policy of changing alliances in every election also has damaged their credibility and sometimes they lose their voters as well. For example in 1990 s elections Jamaat-e-Islami as the part of Islami Jamhuri Ittehad (IJI) contested elections but when it left Islami Jamhuri Ittehad(IJI) in next election many of its voters went to Islami Jamhuri Ittehad (IJI) rather than Jamaat-i- Islami (JI). Many people blame these religious political parties for their direct and indirect relations with militant groups and organizations and their support for the global Jihad. 23

6 Electoral Failure of Religious Political Parties in Pakistan This perception puts question mark on these religious political parties. Hence, many liberal and moderate voters do not support their extremist religious agenda. In addition, another factor of the electoral failure of these religious parties is that they always show support for the military regimes and these were on the forefront of the political scene whenever military was on the driving seat. We observed this phenomenon during Zia Ul Haq and Musharraf s regimes. This inclination towards martial law government made these political parties unpopular among the masses and specially among the followers of democracy in Pakistan. Conclusion So to conclude in present day Pakistan religious political parties specially belong to Sunni sect are the main beneficiaries of military regimes but they are acting more like pressure group rather than mass political parties are still failed to change their supporters into voters and increase their electoral base. On the contrary these religious parties have very well organized structure all along with well trained and devoted cadre. Due to this organizational cohesiveness, these religious parties are able to generate and influence different religious political processions and movements. But in the light of the above mentioned issues it can be said, that there are many problems which caused their electoral failures despite that Pakistan is a pre dominantly Muslim country.

7 Yaqoob & Chattha References Ali, S. (1997). Pakistan a Religio Political Study, Islamabad: National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research. International Crisis Group. (2011). Islamic Parties in Pakistan, (Asia Report No 216) December, Islamabad: International Crises Group. Khan, S. A. & Akhtar, M. S. (2015). Understanding Syed AbulAlaMaududi s Educational Thoughts, Dialogue, July-September, pp ). Khan, Danish, (2013). Muslim South Asia Research Conference, SOAS, University of London. Nasr, S. V. R. (1994). The Vanguard of the Islamic Revolution Jamaat-e-Islami of Pakistan, London: University of California. National Assembly of Pakistan, (n.d). Jamaat I Islami JI Seats Distributions. Available at: http;//na.gov.pk/en/members_listing.php?party=107. Pirzada, A. S. S. (2000). The Politics of the Jamiat -I-Islam Pakistan , New York: Oxford University Press. Ushama, T. & Osmani, N. (2006). Syed Maududi s Contributions towards Islamic Revivalism, IIUC STUDIES, Vol.3, December 2006, pp ). 25