Combined Opposition Parties

The Combined Opposition Parties (COP) was a Pakistani coalition of 6-13 political parties founded in 1965, to run in the 1965 presidential, and general election against field marshal Ayub Khan and his authoritarian regime.

The COP was founded in attempt to challenge the controversial leader Ayub Khan in the then upcoming election. The COP accused Ayub Khan of bad governance and being anti-democratic. The COP advocated for an end to the martial law which had been imposed by Ayub Khan since 1958.

Members
The exact number of parties in the Combined Opposition is not exactly known but studies claim it consisted of the 5,6 or 13 leading opposition parties, the party members included the Socialist National Awami Party (NAP) led by Maulana Bashani, and its northwestern faction, the National Awami Party (Wali) led by Abdul Wali Khan, The Islamist party, the Jamaat-e-Islami led by the popular Abul A'la Maududi, the Council Muslim League led by Khawaja Nazimuddin in opposition to Ayub Khan, the lesser-known Niazam-e-Islam Party of Chaudhry Mohammad Ali and the East Pakistani Awami League led by Mujibur Rehman.

The fact that many of these party members' ideologies were contradictory, demonstrated that Ayub Khan's policies were extremely unpopular.

Foundation
Khawaja Nazimuddin, president of the Council Muslim League, traveled Pakistan, and met with the leaders of various political groups, he talked about the political state of affairs as the presidential election of January 1965 was getting closer. Talks began between major political movements and parties throughout the country for a united front in politics.

As a result, on July 21, 1964, in Dhaka, the opposition parties united to form the Combined Opposition Parties (COP).

Party leadership
The COP did not have one exclusive leader, as it was a coalition of several parties with independent leaders. When the 1965 elections took place, It was disputed who should have run for president on behalf of the COP against Ayub Khan, the Left-wing parties such as the NAP and NAP(W) clashed with the Right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami, causing neither side to reach a clear candidate. Khawaja Nazimuddin was thought of as the best option but his elderly condition hindered any idea of party leadership, therefore it was decided that Fatima Jinnah would run for president due to her neutrality in ideology among the differing parties, as well as due to the fact that she was instrumental in Pakistan's creation and she was the sister of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Fatima Jinnah led the campaign against Ayub Khan in 1965 and urged Pakistanis to vote with care in the elections, and became a serious contender against Ayub's campaign and his party, the Convention Muslim League.

Ideology
The Combined Opposition parties laid out their nine points as an official manifesto and ideological principle in 1964. Chaudhry Muhammad Ali unveiled the following points for the parties ideology:

Other than the nine official points, the party was strictly Anti-Ayub Khan, accusing him of founding a military dictatorship. The COP advocated for an establishment of a Parliamentary Democracy in the country where the Constituent assembly was re-empowered, the party also held Islamic tendencies, due to membership by the Jamaat-e-Islami and Maududi.

Ayub Khan responded to the 9-point manifesto by establishing his own manifesto of industrialism, growth, secularism and the self-determination guarantee to Kashmiris.

Challenges
Since the COP's inception the party faced criticism, challenges and crackdown by Ayub Khan's government. Ayub Khan accused Miss Jinnah of being a weak leader and that she was being exploited by the COP's power hungry, corrupt leaders.

Her campaign was plagued with unfair and unequal election campaign, poor finances, and indirect elections through the Democratic System were some of the primary problems she faced. However, she had overwhelming support among the public.

1965 election results
The election results came in favor of the incumbent President Ayub Khan, who, despite losing the popular vote, won 62.43% of the Electoral vote. Fatima Jinnah won 35.86% of the electoral college votes. Jinnah was however extremely successful in some areas of the country. She had swept across major urban centres such as Karachi and Dhaka. Ayub also faced disappointing results in East Pakistan. However, Ayub had decisively triumphed in rural Pakistan. As majority of the Electoral College consisted of representatives from the rural setup, Ayub was able to win a clear majority.

The election results were not accepted by the Combined Opposition Parties, who accused Ayub of rigging. The COP staged demonstrations and protests, however, didn't gain much public support as Fatimah Jinnah, accepted the election results. The Election had an effective result. It further strengthened the role of Women in politics in Pakistan.

Dissolution
The COP discussed in sessions following the presidential election to determine the course of action for the next national and provincial assembly elections. The leaders of this session discussed boycotting the elections as being unrealistic.

The alliance COP extremely disappointed with the results of these elections, which were a total failure. The reason for this was because COP lost motivation following the presidential election and ran a grudgingly for office. The defeat of COP in the presidential and subsequent national and provincial assembles elections did not render the organization useless. The COP, thereafter lost its strength and unity as the Council Muslim League made efforts to dominate it. Miss Jinnah though the unanimous candidate of all the component parties of the alliance showed her sympathies for the League and advised other parties of the COP to merge into Council Muslim League and fight against 'undemocratic force' with unity and discipline. The parties focused on their respective political agendas respectively and the alliance became ineffective and politically useless. The alliance splintered and dissolved, as the remaining leadership merged with the Council Muslim League.