ON Oct 4, 1988, then acting president Ghulam Ishaq Khan promulgated a little known ordinance to amend the Representation of the People Act of 1976.

In 1976, the ceiling on election-related expenses contained in the act had been set at Rs40,000 for a National Assembly seat, and Rs25,000 for the provincial assembly. Citing the “rising cost of living” Khan’s ordinance of 1988 raised these ceilings to Rs500,000 and Rs300,000 respectively, more than a tenfold increase.

The ordinance was promulgated two days before nine political parties announced an electoral alliance to be called the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI), which would field candidates against the PPP on almost all seats. It came four days before the notification for the elections, and five days before the nomination of candidates was set to begin.