Abstract
The 1988 General Elections are an interesting episode of country’s electoral history. As the 4th in the series, in an overall scenario when democracy could not work to the maximum in order to bring required fruit for what it is famous for, this revival of the party-based elections proved benefitting for its future. Moreover; it created a ‘dichotomy’ in the electorates at the national level which led to a two-party system contrary to autocratic or authoritarian one which at times proves harmful for third world democracies like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, etc. of the region and a number of such democracies can be quoted from Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. These inclinations and affiliations once nurtured in the 1980s Pakistan, still work and their effects on the national political scenario are deep and decisive. These elections also proved that the common public respected the political legacies and their confluence on differing as well extreme poles of affiliations was quite distinct and noticeable. A number of new political developments, trends and patterns at both national and provincial levels later shaped the course of electoral politics. It provides analytical chunks on the basis of authentic studies and documents regarding the main theme. Although much has been written on the country’s electoral politics yet the theme under discussion has demanded more elaborations which have been highlighted in this research.