Dr. A. M. Malik, a civilian appointed by the army as interim Governor of Last Pakistan, said in a recent interview that “the by-elections have many imperfections, but they are certainly better than nothing."
All politicians subscribing to the views of the Awami League have been barred from the by-elections and other potential opposition candidates have been prohibited access to the Government-controlled press.
Government Backs Rightists
The Government has backed candidates from minor right-wing groups with strongly religious and pro-Government tendencies. These parties generally chose to pool their candidates.
The party getting the biggest bloc of seats from the 53 being filled without contest is the Jamaat-c-Islami, also known as the Moslem Orthodox party. This extremely right-wing group, it was reported today, is to get 14 seats.
It has no appreciable political following in East Pakistan and won no seats in the December elections.
The Government has asked the 88 members-elect from East Pakistan who were not barred from their Assembly seats to prepare to take seats. However, most of them have lied to India or have joined the Bengali guerrilla underground.
