Historical Dictionary of Pakistan

CHRONOLOGY • xxxiiithe national and provincial elections. 7 March: General elections wereheld to elect 200 members of the National Assembly. 10 March: Electionswere held for the four provincial assemblies. March–July: Agitationagainst the government launched by the opposition to protest whatit said was widespread rigging of the elections gained momentum. 5July: General Zia ul-Haq, the chief of the Army Staff, removed PrimeMinister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto from office, declared martial law, and appointedhimself the chief martial-law administrator. 20 July: MartialLaw Order No. 12 was promulgated, giving General Zia ul-Haq, thechief martial-law administrator, sweeping powers to detain people suspectedof acting against the interest of the state. 3 September: ZulfikarAli Bhutto was charged with conspiracy to murder. 4 September: MartialLaw Regulation No. 21 was issued, requiring all politicians to submitdeclarations of the assets they held in 1970 and 1977. 18 September:Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was arrested in Larkana. His cousin MumtazAli Bhutto was also imprisoned. 10 November: The Supreme Court issuedits judgment on Begum Nusrat Bhutto vs. Chief of Army Staff andFederation of Pakistan, validating the imposition of martial law. 30 November:A presidential ordinance was issued, repealing the Federal SecurityForce Act of 1973 and disbanding the FSF.1978 1 January: The Hyderabad Special Tribunal, which had been tryingthe cases of a number of political leaders including Wali Khan, wasdisbanded. More than 11.000 persons, imprisoned for political reasons bythe government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, were released. 14 March: PresidentMuhammad Daud of Afghanistan visited Islamabad. 18 March: Ina unanimous opinion of the Lahore High Court, the charges against ZulfikarAli Bhutto were found to have been “proved to the hilt.” The deposedprime minister and co-defendants were sentenced to death. 30April: President Muhammad Daud of Afghanistan was assassinated, andhis government was overthrown by elements of the Afghan Army. 25July: The martial law administration published a “white paper,” reportingthe results of its inquiry into the conduct of the Bhutto governmentduring the 1977 election. 12 September: General Zia ul-Haq visitedNoor Muhammad Tarraki, the Marxist leader of Afghanistan, in Kabul.16 September: General Zia ul-Haq, the chief martial-law administrator(CMLA), was sworn in as Pakistan’s sixth president, replacing FazalElahi Chaudhry. 5 December: Afghanistan and the Soviet Union signeda 20-year Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation. According to Article 4 of