General elections were held in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

on 25 February 1985 to elect members of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

.Pakistan
Inter-Parliamentary Union The elections were held under the military government of

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...

after the restoration of the 1973 constitution. Around 1,300 candidates contested the elections, which were held on a nonpartisan basis. Each candidate was required to have their nomination paper signed by 50 registered voters from the constituency they wished to stand in.''Report on the General Elections, 1985'', Election Commission of Pakistan, 1986, p300 In an attempt to disqualify a large number of opposition candidates and secure a conservative leadership, Zia-ul-Haq introduced amendments to the Political Parties Act of 1962. As a result, the

Movement for the Restoration of Democracy The Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) ( ur, اتحاد برائے بحالی جمہوریت), was a historically left-wing populism and massive socialist political alliance formed to oppose and end the military government of Preside ...

(MRD), which was calling for an end to the military regime, boycotted the elections. Voter turnout was 52.93%, considerably lower than the previous two elections. Most of the elected MNAs were supporters of the Zia regime. A new government was formed under the leadership of

Muhammad Khan Junejo Mohammad Khan Junejo (Urdu: ; Sindhi: ; 18 August 193216 March 1993) was a Pakistani politician and an agriculturist who served as the tenth prime minister of Pakistan, having elected in this capacity in 1985 until being dismissed in 1988. Junejo ...

, a lesser known figure in national politics. Prime Minister Junejo and his followers subsequently established the pro-Zia

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Pakistan Muslim League The Pakistan Muslim League ( ur, ; known as PML), is the name of several different Pakistani political parties that have dominated the right-wing platform in the country. The Muslim League (a different party) was the party of Pakistan’ ...

Results

Aftermath

Following the elections,

was appointed Prime Minister and later formed a new party, the

. The election boycott was viewed to have been a misstep for the MRD, which had assumed the public would support its stance.General Elections, February 1985
Story of Pakistan

References

1985 elections in Pakistan General elections in Pakistan Non-partisan elections Military government of Pakistan (1977–1988) category:Election and referendum articles with incomplete results {{pakistan-election-stub