In a surprising landslide victory, Mr. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the former Foreign Minister, has emerged from Pakistan’s first free elections as the undisputed leader of West Pakistan, while the Bengali nationalist, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, has been chosen as the uncrowned king of East Pakistan. In the western wing, where Mr. Bhutto and his socialist People’s Party had been expected to gain at the most 30 of the 300 seats in the new Constitution Assembly, they have captured 81 of the 138 seats allocated to West Pakistan. Mr. Bhutto had fielded 119 candidates and his party is expected to increase its lead by another 20 seats when all the results are known.

In the eastern province, the nationalist Awami Party led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has, as predicted, captured at least 145 of the remaining 162 seats apportioned to Bengal. As such, the League emerges as the largest single party in Pakistan, but if has no support in the distant western wing. Similarly, Mr. Bhutto’s following is limited to the western wing; he did not expect, or receive, support from the eastern wing.

These two regional leaders are diametrically opposed on all the major issues in Pakistan and the results of the election will, apparently, carve up the country into two separate political kingdoms. Mr. Bhutto, who has campaigned under a banner of “Islamic socialism” and the promise of a 1,000-year war with India, captured most of the seats in Punjab and Sind. He also won support in the North - West Frontier.

As the final results trickle in from the rural areas, it is clear that Mr. Bhutto will retain at least 62 of the 82 seats in Punjab and 19 of the 27 seats in Sind, his home province. In addition, he captured five of the six constituencies in which he stood. The more middle of the road Council Muslim League, led by Mian Mumtaz Daulatana, which was expected to emerge as the largest single party in West Pakistan, has suffered a disastrous setback, retaining only seven of the 50 seats the party contested. Surprisingly, the right-wing conservative Jamaat-I-Islami, supporting rigid Islamic orthodoxy, has fared badly, but a left-wing group of religious divines, the Hazarvi Jamaat Ulama, has done well and has already captured five seats.

While most of the other 23 contesting parties lost heavily at the polls, several well-known politicians won seats in the Constituent Assembly in their own right. They include Mr. Nurul Amin, the veteran political leader of the Pakistan Democratic Party, Mian Mumtaz Daulatana. and Abdul Wali Khan of the North-West Frontier. However, Air Marshall Asghar Khan, the former Chief of Air Staff, who led the mass npvement which brought down president Ayub Khan’s regime, lost the Rawalpindi constituency to a people’s Party candidate.

There can be no doubt that the powerful Awami League has been swept power as the bastion of Bengali nationalism. Its popularity is founded mainly on its anti-West Pakistani stand and on its promise of ultimate autonomy for the eastern wing. As a side issue several of the Awami League’s major rivals, such as the pro-Peking National Awami Party, decided to boycott the elections at the last minute which left the field open to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The party will now contest the remaining nine seats in the cyclone disaster area where elections were postponed last week.

Apart from isolated clashes and some scuffles in Rawalpindi, Karachi, Peshawar and in the rural areas of Punjab, the elections were not marked by violence. While the elections have certainly eased the tension in Pakistan, they have in another sense pitched the country into a critical political situation.

Pakistan’s new political representatives will be given 120 days to frame a constitution after the Assembly meets for the first time, but the results of the polls and the make-up of the Constituent Assembly indicate that the proceedings might grind to a halt. The 162 representatives from East Pakistan will be fighting for a constitution which will give the provinces the maximum measure of autonomy. If Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has his way in the Assembly, the central Government will be divested of all its powers except in defence and foreign affairs.

He also wants the constitution to guarantee Bengal’s right to manage its own financial affairs and foreign trade which would, In fact, give the eastern wing the power to trade with its otherwise hostile neighbour, India. On the other hand, Mr. Bhutto, who supports a strong central Government, would oppose most of East Pakistan’s demands and it is doubtful whether these two leaders can come to a compromise.