Pakistan: a political timeline

Pakistan has alternated between eras of civilian rule and

decades under the control of its powerful military.
by Asad Hashim

For just over half of its 64 years of independence, Pakistan has been ruled by its powerful
military. Democratically elected governments have struggled to complete their terms, being
alternately dismissed by presidents or removed from power by army chiefs.

Indeed, only one parliament has ever completed its five-year term - and it was headed by
General Pervez Musharraf, a military dictator, as both president and army chief.

Al Jazeera traces through Pakistan's complex political history in this interactive timeline.

The periods in orange represent civilian rule, and in blue represent military rule. The
black markers represent key events. Hover over them for more information.

1947-1958
1958-1971
1971-1977
1977-1988
1988-1999
1999-2008
2008-2012

Independence and first democratic era

1947
The Indian subcontinent is partitioned into mainly Muslim Pakistan and mainly Hindu
India. The government is headed by Muhammad Ali Jinnah as Governor-General, with
Liaquat Ali Khan serving as Prime Minister. A constituent assembly is formed to act as both
parliament and to draft a constitution.

1948
Long suffering from Tuberculosis, Muhammad Ali Jinnah dies. He is replaced by Khwaja
Nazimuddin.

1951
Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, who drafted the Objectives Resolution which today is the
preamble to Pakistan's constitution, is assassinated in Rawalpindi.

1956
Pakistan gets its first constitution, turning the country from an autonomous dominion into
an "Islamic Republic".

First military period

1958
President Iskander Mirza carries out a coup d'etat, suspending the constitution. Shortly
afterwards, Army chief General Ayub Khan deposes Mirza and declares himself president.
He appoints a commission to formulate a new system of government for the country.

1962
The second constitution outlines a presidential form of government, with a 156-member
National Assembly and a Presidential electoral college of 80,000 "Basic Democrats".
Members of both bodies are equally divided between West Pakistan and East Pakistan
(present-day Bangladesh).

1965
Ayub Khan defeats Fatima Jinnah in a controversial and closely fought poll.

1969
Amid protests, Ayub Khan resigns as president, handing over power to Army Chief General
Yahya Khan. Martial Law is proclaimed and all assemblies are dissolved.

1970
General elections are held, with East Pakistani leader Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rehman's party
emerging as the overall winner. The results of the poll are contested.

1971
The controversy over the general election leads to a war, also involving India, that results in
the independence of Bangladesh after a brutal Pakistani army action in East Pakistan.

Second democratic era

1972
Martial Law is lifted. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is elected as president. He also launches Pakistan's
nuclear programme.

1973
A new constitution is enacted, declaring Pakistan a parliamentary democracy, with a prime
minister as head of state, leading a bi-cameral legislature. Bhutto goes from president to
prime minister.

1976
Bhutto appoints General Zia-ul-Haq as his chief of army staff.

1977
General elections are held, with the Bhutto's party winning the majority of seats in the
national assembly. Amid unrest following allegations of vote-rigging from the opposition,
General Zia-ul-Haq steps in, removing Bhutto in a coup, suspending the constitution and
declaring martial law.

Second military period

1978
Zia-ul-Haq is sworn in as president. He retains the office of army chief.

1979
After having been found guilty of "conspiracy to murder" in a trial heavily criticised for
having been influenced by Zia, Bhutto is executed. Zia enacts the controversial Hudood
Ordinance, a law brought in as part of Zia's 'Islamisation' policy that prescribed
punishments considered more in line with the Quran.

1982
Having put off polls indefinitely and banned political activity, Zia forms a federal council of
'technocrats' he has nominated.

1984
Zia-ul-Haq holds a referendum on his Islamisation policies. His government claims that
more than 95 per cent of votes cast were in support of Zia.

1985
General elections are held (on a non-party basis). Martial law is lifted and the newly elected
national assembly ratifies Zia's actions over the last eight years, and elects him as President.
Muhammad Khan Junejo is elected as prime minister.

1988
Amid widening rifts, Zia dissolves parliament, dismissing Junejo's government under
Article 58-2(b) of the constitution. He promises elections within 90 days. On August 17,
however, he is killed, along with 31 others, in a plane crash.

Third democratic era

1988
General elections are held, with the PPP (led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's daughter, Benazir)
winning a majority of seats. Bhutto is sworn in as prime minister.

1990
President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dissolves the National Assembly, dismissing Bhutto's
government on charges of alleged corruption and incompetence. Fresh elections are held,
and Nawaz Sharif, groomed under Zia as the head of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI), is
elected prime minister.

1991
The National Assembly adopts the Shariat bill, codifying elements of Islamic law into
Pakistan's legal system.

1992
Nawaz's government initiates a military operation against violence in Karachi, the country's
largest city. The operation is largely seen to target members of the Muhajir Qaumi
Movement (MQM), a political party with its base in the city.
1993
President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismisses Sharif's government for alleged corruption and
incompetence. He himself resigns later in the year. General elections are held, with Benazir
Bhutto elected prime minister for her second term. Farooq Leghari, a member of the PPP,
is elected as the country's president.

1996
President Farooq Leghari dissolves the National Assembly, dismissing Benazir Bhutto's
government, which was operating under a cloud of corruption allegations.

1997
General elections are held, the fourth time such polls have taken place since 1988. Nawaz
Sharif's PML-N party wins in a landslide, and he is elected prime minister for the second
time. Rafiq Tarar is sworn in as President the next year.

1998
Pakistan conducts nuclear tests in the Chaghai Hills of Balochistan, in response to similar
Indian tests days earlier. The international community imposes strict economic sanctions
on the country in response.

Third military period

1999
After the Kargil War, Nawaz Sharif attempts to replace General Pervez Musharraf, his army
chief. Musharraf takes power in a coup, placing Nawaz Sharif and other political leaders
under house arrest.

2000
The Supreme Court validates Musharraf's coup and gives him executive and legislative
authority for a period of three years. Nawaz Sharif and his family flee to exile in Saudi
Arabia.

2001
General Pervez Musharraf assumes the office of president, while remaining chief of army
staff.

2002
Musharraf wins a referendum on his presidency, granting him five more years in the job.
The government claims he wins the poll by more than 95 per cent. A general election is also
held, with the PML-Q, a party created by Musharraf and loyal to the president, winning most
seats. The PML-Q's Zafarullah Khan Jamali is elected prime minister. Musharraf,
meanwhile, institutes a raft of amendments to the 1973 constitution.

2004
Zafaraullah Khan Jamali is replaced by Shaukat Aziz, then the finance minister, as prime
minister of Pakistan.

2007
President Musharraf dismisses Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Iftikhar Muhammad
Chaudhry, prompting a nationwide protest movement for his reinstatement. Chaudhry is
eventually restored, but Musharraf imposes a state of emergency later in the year ahead of
a key apex court ruling on the legality of his rule. The National Assembly, meanwhile,
completes its five-year term for the first time in Pakistan's history. Benazir Bhutto, who
returned to the country to campaign in the general elections after the passage of a
controversial blanket corruption amnesty deal, is killed in a bomb attack in Rawalpindi.

Fourth democratic era

2008
General elections are held, with the PPP winning the majority of seats in the national
assembly. Yousuf Raza Gilani is elected prime minister, with Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's
widower and now co-chairman of the PPP, replacing Musharraf as president.

2009
After heightening tensions over the issue, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and his colleagues
in the judiciary are restored to their positions, having been dismissed by Pervez Musharraf
after his 2007 state of emergency.

2010
Pakistan's parliament passes the 18th amendment to the 1973 consitution, which, among
other things, reverses some of the changes brought about by Musharraf and also removes
the President's power to dissolve the parliament unilaterally under Article 58-2(b).

2011
Caught amidst scandals involving both corruption probes and the so-called "Memogate"
affair, the PPP government comes under increasing pressure from the opposition to hold
early elections.

2012
After being found guilty of having committed contempt of court for not implementing a
Supreme Court order to reopen a corruption case involving President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime
Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is deemed to be ineligible to hold public office. He loses his seat
in parliament, but not before he becomes the longest serving prime minister in Pakistan's
history. He is succeeded as PM by Raja Pervez Ashraf, another leading PPP member and
Zardari loyalist.

2013
The PPP-led coalition government becomes Pakistan's first democratically elected civilian-
led government to complete its five-year term in office. A caretaker government is appointed
and a general election is set for May 11.

Pakistan: A Political History

Pakistan's short history as a country has been very turbulent. Fighting among the provinces--as
well as a deep-rooted conflict that led to a nuclear stand-off with India—prevented Pakistan from
gaining real stability in the last five decades. It oscillates between military rule and democratically
elected governments, between secular policies and financial backing as a "frontline" state during
the Cold War and the war against terrorism. Recent declared states of emergency and the political
assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto indicate a continuing trend of economic
and political instability.

Overview
When Pakistan became a country on August 14th, 1947, to form the largest Muslim state in the
world at that time. The creation of Pakistan was catalyst to the largest demographic movement in
recorded history. Nearly seventeen million people-Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs-are reported to
have moved in both directions between India and the two wings of Pakistan (the eastern wing is
now Bangladesh). Sixty million of the ninety-five million Muslims on the Indian subcontinent
became citizens of Pakistan at the time of its creation. Subsequently, thirty-five million Muslims
remained inside India making it the largest Muslim minority in a non-Muslim state.

Scarred from birth, Pakistan's quest for survival has been as compelling as it has been uncertain.
Despite the shared religion of its overwhelmingly Muslim population, Pakistan has been engaged
in a precarious struggle to define a national identity and evolve a political system for its
linguistically diverse population. Pakistan is known to have over twenty languages and over 300
distinct dialects, Urdu and English are the official languages but Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtu, Baluchi
and Seraiki are considered main languages. This diversity has caused chronic regional tensions
and successive failures in forming a constitution. Pakistan has also been burdened by full-scale
wars with India, a strategically exposed northwestern frontier, and series of economic crises. It
has difficulty allocating its scarce economic and natural resources in an equitable manner.

All of Pakistan's struggles underpin the dilemma they face in reconciling the goal of national
integration with the imperatives of national security.

Following a military defeat at the hands of India the breakaway of its eastern territory, which
India divides it from, caused the establishment of Bangladesh in 1971. This situation epitomizes
the most dramatic manifestation of Pakistan's dilemma as a decentralized nation. Political
developments in Pakistan continue to be marred by provincial jealousies and, in particular, by the
deep resentments in the smaller provinces of Sind, Baluchistan, and the North-West Frontier
Province against what is seen to be a monopoly by the Punjabi majority of the benefits of power,
profit, and patronage. Pakistan's political instability over time has been matched by a fierce
ideological debate about the form of government it should adopt, Islamic or secular. In the
absence of any nationally based political party, Pakistan has long had to rely on the civil service
and the army to maintain the continuities of government.

The Emergence of Pakistan

The roots of Pakistan's multifaceted problems can be traced to March 1940 when the All-India
Muslim League formally orchestrated the demand for a Pakistan consisting of Muslim-majority
provinces in the northwest and northeast of India. By asserting that the Indian Muslims were a
nation, not a minority, the Muslim League and its leader, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, had hoped to
negotiate a constitutional arrangement that provided an equitable share of power between Hindus
and Muslims once the British relinquished control of India. The demand for a "Pakistan" was
Jinnah's and the League's bid to register their claim to be the spokesmen of all Indian Muslims,
both in provinces were they were in a majority as well as in provinces where they were a minority.
Jinnah and the League's main bases of support, however, were in the Muslim-minority provinces.
In the 1937 general elections, the league had met a serious rejection from the Muslim voters in
the majority provinces.

There was an obvious contradiction in a demand for a separate Muslim state and the claim to be
speaking for all Indian Muslims. During the remaining years of the British Raj in India neither
Jinnah nor the Muslim League explained how Muslims in the minority provinces could benefit
from a Pakistan based on an undivided Punjab, Sind, North-West Frontier Province, and
Baluchistan in the northwest, and an undivided Bengal and Assam in the northeast. Jinnah did at
least had tried to get around the inconsistencies by arguing that since there were two nations in
India-Hindu and Muslim-any transfer of power from British to Indian hands would necessarily
entail disbanding of the unitary center created by the imperial rulers. Reconstitution of the Indian
union would have to be based on either confederal or treaty arrangements between Pakistan
(representing the Muslim-majority provinces) and Hindustan (representing the Hindu-majority
provinces). Jinnah also maintained that Pakistan would have to include an undivided Punjab and
Bengal. The substantial non-Muslim minorities in both these provinces were the best guarantee
that the Indian National Congress would see sense in negotiating reciprocal arrangements with
the Muslim League to safeguard the interests of Muslim minorities in Hindustan.

Despite Jinnah's large claims, the Muslim League failed to build up effective party machinery in
the Muslim-majority provinces. Consequently the league had no real control over either the
politicians or the populace at the base that was mobilized in the name of Islam. During the final
negotiations, Jinnah's options were limited by uncertain commitment of the Muslim-majority
province politicians to the league's goals in the demand for Pakistan. The outbreak of communal
troubles constrained Jinnah further still. In the end he had little choice but to settle for a Pakistan
stripped of the non-Muslim majority districts of the Punjab and Bengal and to abandon his hopes
of a settlement that might have secured the interests of all Muslims. But the worst cut of all was
Congress's refusal to interpret partition as a division of India between Pakistan and Hindustan.
According to the Congress, partition simply meant that certain areas with Muslim majorities were
'splitting off' from the "Indian union." The implication was that if Pakistan failed to survive, the
Muslim areas would have to return to the Indian union; there would be no assistance to recreate
it on the basis of two sovereign states.

With this agreement nothing stood in the way of the reincorporation of the Muslim areas into the
Indian union except the notion of a central authority, which had yet to be firmly established. To
establish a central authority proved to be difficult, especially since the provinces had been
governed from New Delhi for so long and the separation of Pakistan's eastern and western wings
by one thousand miles of Indian territory. Even if Islamic sentiments were the best hope of
keeping the Pakistani provinces unified, their pluralistic traditions and linguistic affiliations were
formidable stumbling blocks. Islam had certainly been a useful rallying cry, but it had not been
effectively translated into the solid support that Jinnah and the League needed from the Muslim
provinces in order to negotiate an arrangement on behalf of all Indian Muslims.

The diversity of Pakistan's provinces, therefore, was a potential threat to central authority. While
the provincial arenas continued to be the main centers of political activity, those who set about
creating the centralized government in Karachi were either politicians with no real support or
civil servants trained in the old traditions of British Indian administration. The inherent
weaknesses of the Muslim League's structure, together with the absence of a central
administrative apparatus that could coordinate the affairs of the state, proved to be a crippling
disadvantage for Pakistan overall. The presence of millions of refugees called for urgent remedial
action by a central government that, beyond not being established, had neither adequate resources
nor capacities. The commercial groups had yet to invest in some desperately needed industrial
units. And the need to extract revenues from the agrarian sector called for state interventions,
which caused a schism between the administrative apparatus of the Muslim League and the landed
elite who dominated the Muslim League.

Power and Governance

Both the military and the civil bureaucracy were affected by the disruptions wrought by partition.
Pakistan cycled through a number of politicians through their beginning political and economic
crises. The politicians were corrupt, interested in maintaining their political power and securing
the interests of the elite, so to have them as the representative authority did not provide much
hope of a democratic state that provided socio-economic justice and fair administration to all
Pakistani citizens. Ranging controversies over the issue of the national language, the role of Islam,
provincial representation, and the distribution of power between the center and the provinces
delayed constitution making and postponed general elections. In October 1956 a consensus was
cobbled together and Pakistan's first constitution declared. The experiment in democratic
government was short but not sweet. Ministries were made and broken in quick succession and
in October 1958, with national elections scheduled for the following year, General Mohammad
Ayub Khan carried out a military coup with confounding ease.

Between 1958 and 1971 President Ayub Khan, through autocratic rule was able to centralize the
government without the inconvenience of unstable ministerial coalitions that had characterized
its first decade after independence. Khan brought together an alliance of a predominantly Punjabi
army and civil bureaucracy with the small but influential industrial class as well as segments of
the landed elite, to replace the parliamentary government by a system of Basic Democracies.
Basic Democracies code was founded on the premise of Khan's diagnosis that the politicians and
their "free-for-all" type of fighting had had ill effect on the country. He therefore disqualified all
old politicians under the Elective Bodies Disqualification Order, 1959 (EBDO). The Basic
Democracies institution was then enforced justifying "that it was democracy that suited the genius
of the people." A small number of basic democrats (initially eighty thousand divided equally
between the two wings and later increased by another forty thousand) elected the members of
both the provincial and national assemblies. Consequently the Basic Democracies system did not
empower the individual citizens to participate in the democratic process, but opened up the
opportunity to bribe and buy votes from the limited voters who were privileged enough to vote.

By giving the civil bureaucracy (the chosen few) a part in electoral politics, Khan had hoped to
bolster central authority, and largely American-directed, programs for Pakistan's economic
development. But his policies exacerbated existing disparities between the provinces as well as
within them. Which gave the grievances of the eastern wing a potency that threatened the very
centralized control Khan was trying to establish. In West Pakistan, notable successes in increasing
productivity were more than offset by growing inequalities in the agrarian sector and their lack
of representation, an agonizing process of urbanization, and the concentration of wealth in a few
industrial houses. In the aftermath of the 1965 war with India, mounting regional discontent in
East Pakistan and urban unrest in West Pakistan helped undermine Ayub Khan's authority,
forcing him to relinquish power in March 1969.

Bangladesh Secedes
After Ayub Khan, General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan headed the second military regime
from 1969-1971. By that time the country had been under military rule for thirteen of its twenty-
five years of existence. This second military regime emphasized the extent to which the process
of centralization under bureaucratic and military tutelage had fragmented Pakistani society and
politics. The general elections of 1970 on the basis of adult franchise revealed for the first time
ever in Pakistan's history how regionalism and social conflict had come to dominate politics
despite the efforts at controlled development. The Awami League, led by Mujibur Rahman,
campaigned on a six-point program of provincial autonomy, capturing all but one seat in East
Pakistan and securing an absolute majority in the national assembly. In West Pakistan the
Pakistan People's Party, led by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, had a populist platform that stole the thunder
from the Islamic parties (the Muslim League, the oldest political party captured no more than a
few seats) and emerged as the largest single bloc. The prospect of an Awami Leagues government
was a threat to politicians in West Pakistan who in conspiracy with the military leadership
prevented Mujibur from taking the reins of power. This was the final straw for the east wing who
was already fed up with the their under-representation in all sectors of the government, economic
deprivation and then the suppression of the democratic process. An armed rebellion in East
Pakistan engendered all of these frustrations, which caused Indian military intervention to crush
it. Pakistan was now involved in its third war with India, thus clearing the way for the
establishment of Bangladesh in 1971.

A Democratic Government
The dismemberment of Pakistan discredited both the civil bureaucracy and the army, General
Yahya Khan was left no choice but to hand all power over to the Pakistan's People's Party (PPP)
who saw the formation of a representative led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Bhutto's electoral strength,
however, was confined to the Punjab and Sind, and even there it had not been based on solid
political party organization. This, together with the PPP's lack of following in the North-West
Frontier Province and Baluchistan, meant that Bhutto could not work the central apparatus
without at least the implicit support of the civil bureaucracy and the military high command. The
1973 constitution made large concessions to the non-Punjabi provinces and provided the blueprint
for a political system based on the semblance of a national consensus. But Bhutto failed to
implement the federal provisions of the constitution. He relied on the coercive arm of the state to
snuff out political opposition and by neglecting to build the PPP as a truly popular national party.
The gap between his popular rhetoric and the marginal successes of his somewhat haphazard
economic reforms prevented Bhutto form consolidating a social base of support. Thus, despite a
temporary loss of face in 1971 the civil bureaucracy and the army remained the most important
pillars of the state structure, instead of the citizens of Pakistan who were still struggling to be
recognized in the democratic process. Although Bhutto's PPP won the 1977 elections, the
Pakistan National Alliance-a nine-party coalition-charged him with rigging the vote. Violent
urban unrest gave the army under General Zia-ul Haq the pretext to make a powerful comeback
to the political arena, and on July 5, 1977 Pakistan was placed under military rule yet again and
the 1973 Constitution was suspended.

Upon assuming power General Zia banned all political parties and expressed his determination
to recast the Pakistani state and society into an Islamic mold. In April 1979 Bhutto was executed
on murder charges and the PPP's remaining leadership was jailed or exiled. By holding nonparty
elections and initiating a series of Islamization policies, Zia sought to create a popular base of
support in the hope of legitimizing the role of the military in Pakistani politics. The Soviet
invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 caused Zia's regime to receive international support
as a stable government bordering Soviet territory. Although Pakistan had now formally
disentangled its self from both SEATO and CENTO and joined the nonaligned movement, was
regarded by the West as an important front-line state and is a major recipient of American military
and financial aid. Despite a string of statistics advertising the health of the economy, murmurs of
discontent, though muffled, continued to be heard. On December 30, 1985, after confirming his
own position in a controversial "Islamic" referendum, completing a fresh round of nonparty
elections of the provincial and national assemblies, and introducing a series of amendments to the
1973 constitution, Zia finally lifted martial law and announced the dawn of a new democratic era
in Pakistan.

This new democratic era was just as turbulent as Pakistan's previous political history. Major
political parties called for a boycott the 1985 election due to the non-party bias platform. In
absence of political parties the candidates focused on local issues that superseded the majority of
the candidates affiliations to particular parties. The Pakistani people were obviously interested in
participating in the democratic process and disregarded the urge to boycott, 52.9% cast ballots
for the National Assembly and 56.9% cast ballots for the provincial elections.

President Zia first initiative was to introduce amendments to the 1973 constitution that would
secure his power over the parliamentary system. The eighth amendment turned out to be the most
detrimental to the people's faith in the democratic system. Now the president could possess
complete control and power to take any step, which he felt was necessary to secure national
integrity. For the next twelve years the presidents used this amendment to expel a number of
prime ministers from their post, mainly due to either personal struggles or insecurity over shift in
power.

Following the 1988 election, Muhammad Khan Junejo was nominated as the prime minister, who
had a unanimous vote of confidence by the National Assembly. Junejo seemed to be a promising
component to the Pakistani government; he fostered a smooth transition from the army to civil
authority, which generated optimism about the democratic process of Pakistan. For the first of his
years in office, Junejo was able to strike a balance between establishing the parliamentary
credentials as a democratic body and maintaining President Zia's blessing. He developed the five-
point program that aimed at improving development, literacy rate, eliminating corruption and
improvement of the common man's lot. He was as well improving foreign policy abroad and was
grappling a major budgetary deficit from the heavy expenditure of the martial law regimes. But
on May 29th 1988 President Zia dissolved the National Assembly and removed the prime minister
under the article 58-2-b of the Constitution. He claimed that Jenejo was conspiring against him
in order to undermine his position; he blamed the National Assembly of corruption and failure to
enforce Islamic way of life.

The opposition parties were in support of Zia's decision because it worked in their benefit,
providing an early election. They demanded elections to be schedule in ninety days in accordance
with the constitution. President Zia interpreted this article of the constitution differently. He felt
he was required to announce the election schedule in ninety days while the elections could be
held later. Simultaneously he wanted to hold the elections on a non-party basis as he had in 1985,
but the Supreme Court upheld that this went against the spirit of the constitution. Political
confusion ensued as a result of Zia's proposal to postpone the elections to re-structure the political
system in the name of Islam. There was fear that Zia may impose martial law and the Muslim
League became split between supporters of Zia and Junejo. All of this was stalled when Zia died
in a plane crash on august 17th.

Ghulam Ishaq Khan was sworn in as president being the chairman of the Senate and elections
were initiated. Which surprised to outside observers who feared that the military could easily take
over power. The November elections of 1988 were based on political party platforms for the first
time in fifteen years. None of the parties won the majority of the National Assembly but the
Pakistan People's Party emerged as the single largest holder of seats. Benazir Bhutto, the PPP's
chairperson, was named prime minister after the PPP formed a coalition of smaller parties to form
a working majority. At first people were hopeful that Bhutto would work together with the
opposition party's leader Nawaz Sharif of the IJI party, who headed the Punjabi party, the majority
province. But soon they escalated bitterness to new heights and drained the economy with bribes
to other politicians to sway affiliations. These accounts plus no improvement on the economic
front scarred the central government's image. In 1990 the President dismissed Bhutto under the
eighth amendment of the constitution, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court. So once again
elections were held a short two years later.

The Pakistani people were losing faith in the democratic system. They felt it was corrupt,
haphazard and based on the squabbles of the military and bureaucratic elite. This attitude was
reinforced by the fact that Nawaz Sharif was assigned prime minister in 1990, and dismissed in
1993 even though he had liberalized investment, restored confidence of domestic and
international investors, so that investment increased by 17.6%. And as a result the GDP had a
growth rate of 6.9% while the inflation stayed under 10%. President Ghulam Ishaq Khan was
accused of conspiring with Benazir Bhutto in the dismissal of Sharif. For the first time in
Pakistan's history the Supreme Court declared that the dismissal of the National Assembly and
Sharif unconstitutional, reinstating Sharif and the National Assembly. This act showed that the
president was not the overriding power but the events that followed proved how unstable the
government was. Through bribes and palace intrigues Ghulam was able to influence a rebellion
in Punjab in 1993, which represented Sharif and his party as incompetent. This situation caused
an upheaval in the system that resulted in intervention of the chief of Army Staff General, Abdul
Waheed Kaker. It was agreed that both the president and prime minister would resign and new
elections would be arranged.

An even lower turn out affected the legitimacy of the all too frequent electoral process. In this
election the mandate was divided by the same players, the PPP with Bhutto and the Muslim
League with Sharif. Sharif had lost the popular support in Punjab, which caused the PPP to claim
the majority of the seats. So once again the PPP claimed the majority of the seats and Bhutto was
placed as prime minister. She was able to get Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari elected as president,
which secured her government against the eighth amendment. Regardless Bhutto was unable to
run a just government; she fell back into corruption, misuses of state resources, which was
detrimental to the Pakistani people. Both the Chief Justice and President wanted to maintain the
autonomy of their position in the government, while Bhutto was attempting to override the
political system. President Leghari soon dismissed her with the support of the Supreme Court.
The public hailed this decision and in February 1997 prepared for new elections, the fifth in
twelve years. The voter support for the elections waned proportionately throughout these twelve
years.

It was obvious that the two leading parties were alternating public support when Sharif and the
Muslim League were reinstated as the Prime Minister and majority party respectively. The
Muslim League used its parliamentary majority to enact a fundamental change in the political
system with the introduction of amendments thirteen in the constitution. The thirteenth
amendment limited the power of the president to that of a nominal head of state, while restoring
the parliament as the central governmental power. This amendment basically created a check and
balance procedure to article eight, in an attempt to maintain political stability. By 1999 the eighth
amendment was stripped of the constraints that empowered the president to dissolve the National
Assembly or dismiss the prime minister. These legislative feats were impressive, but overall the
Muslim League's performance was mixed. They inherited a lot of obstacles, an economy that was
on the verge of collapse and a political culture of corruption. The May 1998 decision to conduct
nuclear tests in response to India's nuclear tests resulted in the imposition of sanctions that stifled
the economy even more so. Bhutto's corrupt usage of foreign funds and the freezing of foreign
investments further complicated investment relations.

Turmoil
Prime Minister Sharif was gaining disapproval on many fronts, for he was perceived to be power
hungry and possibly corrupt. He had forced out the chief justice of the supreme court and the
army chief soon after the eighth amendment was revised, he was cracking down on the press that
did not support him and his family's firm, Ittefaq Industries, was doing abnormally well in times
of economic slowdown, which led to suspicions of corruption. The army chief, Jehangir Karamat
was among the many who were worried about Sharif's mounting power, he demanded that the
army be included in the country's decision-making process in attempt to balance the civil
government. Two days later he resigned putting General Pervez Musharraf in his position.
Musharraf had been one of the principal strategists in the Kashmiri crisis with India. He soon
suspected that he did not have the political backing of the civil government in his aggressive quest
in Kashmir. The combination of Shariff's reluctance in the Kashmiri opposition, mounting
factional disputes, terrorism all provided Musharraf with the justification to lead a coup to
overthrow the civil government. On October 12th, 1999 he successfully ousted Sharif and the
Muslim League on the grounds that he was maintaining law and order while strengthening the
institution of governance.

The Pakistani people thought that this may be on a temporary basis and once things had stabilized,
Musharraf would call for new elections of the National Assembly. But Musharraf has refused to
reinstate the National Assembly via elections until October 2002, a deadline set by the Supreme
Court. In July of 2001 Musharraf declared himself president before meeting with the Indian prime
minister to legitimize his authority within the Pakistani government. He has since recalled all
regional militant Islamic factions through out Pakistan and encouraged them to return their
weapons to the central government. He has been unwavering on Pakistan's position on Kashmir,
which resulted in shortening talks with India. He is now cooperating with the American
government and western world in the coalition against terrorism, which puts him in an awkward
position with his Afghanistan neighbors and the fractious groups within Pakistan who sympathize
with the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden on an ethnic, ideological and political level.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah had always envisioned a democratic Pakistan and many of his successors
have struggle towards this goal, but not more than maintaining their own platforms of power. It
is ironic that such political instability plagues a country whose number one objective of its leaders
is to secure their own power. Maybe it is time for a new equation. The actions of both civil and
military leaders have exhaustively tried the Pakistani people and their struggle as a nation.
Pakistan faces the unenviable task of setting government priorities in accordance with the needs
of its diverse and unevenly developed constituent units. Regardless of the form of government--
civilian or military, Islamic or secular--solutions of the problem of mass illiteracy and economic
inequities on the one hand, and the imperatives of national integration and national security will
also determine the degree of political stability, or instability, that Pakistan faces in the decades
ahead. But the people and the nation persevere offering the world great cultural, religious, and
intellectual traditions.

Politics of Pakistan
The politics of Pakistan takes place within the framework established by the constitution. The
country is a federal parliamentary republic in which provincial governments enjoy a high degree
of autonomy and residuary powers. Executive power is vested with the national cabinetwhich is
headed by the prime minister, who works coherently along with the bicameral parliament and
the judicature.[1] Stipulations set by the constitution provide a delicate check and
balance of sharing powers between executive, legislative, and judicial branches of
the government.[2]
The head of state is the president who is elected by the electoral college for a five-year term. The
president was a significant authority until the 18th amendment, passed in 2010, stripped the
presidency of its major powers. Since then, Pakistan has been shifted from a Semi-presidential
system to a purely parliamentary government.[3]
The Government consists of three branches: executive, legislative and judicial. The Executive
branch consists of the Cabinet and is led by the Prime Minister. It is totally independent of the
legislative branch that consists of a bicameral parliament. The Upper House is the Senatewhilst
the National Assembly is the lower house.[4] The Judicial branch forms with the composition of
the Supreme Court as an apex court, alongside the high courts and other inferior
courts.[5][6] The judiciary's function is to interpret the Constitution and federal laws and
regulations.[7][8]
Pakistan is a multiparty democracy where several political parties compete for seats in the
National and Provincial assemblies. However, as an aftermath of the Fall of Dhaka in 1971, a
two-party system was inculcated between the Peoples Party and Muslim League. There has also
been a sharp rise in the popularity of centrist parties such that PML-
Q and PTI.[9][10] The Military establishment has played an influential rolein the country's
politics. From 1950s to 2000s, several coups were staged that overthrew democratic regimes.
However, after the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf in 2008, a sharp line has been
drawn between the Military and politics and Pakistan is moving closer to becoming a Liberal
Democracy.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17]
The Economist Intelligence Unit has rated Pakistan as "hybrid regime" in 2016.[18]
Contents
Executive branchEdit
The president of Pakistan, in keeping with the constitutional provision that the state religion is
Islam, must be a Muslim. Elected for a five-year term by an Electoral College consisting of
members of the Senate and National Assembly and members of the provincial assemblies, the
president is eligible for re-election. But no individual may hold the office for more than two
consecutive terms. The president may resign or be impeached and may be removed from office
due to incapacity or gross misconduct by a two-thirds vote of the members of the parliament. The
president generally acts on the advice of the prime minister but has important residual powers.
One of the most important of these powers—a legacy of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq—is the
president's power to dissolve the National Assembly "in his discretion where, in has arisen in
which the Government of the Federation cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions
of the Constitution and an appeal to the electorate is necessary." This power has twice been
granted —by the Eighth Amendmentin 1985 and by the Seventeenth Amendment in 2003—and
has twice been revoked—by the Thirteenth Amendment in 1997 and by the Eighteenth
Amendment in 2010. Despite this most recent power-stripping, the President remains the ex
officio chair of the National Security Council, as per the National Security Act 2004.
The prime minister is appointed by the members of the National Assembly through a vote. The
prime minister is assisted by the Federal Cabinet, a council of ministers whose members are
appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister. The Federal Cabinet comprises
the ministers, ministers of state, and advisers. As of early 1994, there were thirty-three ministerial
portfolios: commerce; communications; culture; defence; defence production; education;
environment; finance and economic affairs; food and agriculture; foreign affairs; health; housing;
information and broadcasting; interior; Kashmiri affairs and Northern Areas; law and justice;
local government; minority affairs; narcotics control; parliamentary affairs; petroleum and natural
resources production; planning and development; railways; religious affairs; science and
technology; social welfare; special education; sports; state and frontier regions; tourism; water
and power; women's development; and youth affairs.

Legislative branchEdit
The bicameral federal legislature consists of the Senate (upper house) and National Assembly
(lower house). According to Article 50 of the Constitution, the National Assembly, the Senate
and the President together make up a body known as the Majlis-i-Shoora (Council of Advisers).
Pakistan's democracy has no recall method. However, past governments have been dismissed for
corruption by the President's invocation of Article 58 of the Constitution. The President's power
to dismiss the Prime Minister and dissolve the National Assembly was removed by the Thirteenth
Amendment and partially restored by the Seventeenth Amendment.
SenateEdit
The Senate is a permanent legislative body with equal representation from each of the four
provinces, elected by the members of their respective provincial assemblies. There are
representatives from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and from Islamabad Capital
Territory. The chairman of the Senate, under the constitution, is next in line to act as president
should the office become vacant and until such time as a new president can be formally elected.
Both the Senate and the National Assembly can initiate and pass legislation except for finance
bills. Only the National Assembly can approve the federal budget and all finance bills. In the case
of other bills, the president may prevent passage unless the legislature in joint sitting overrules
the president by a majority of members of both houses present and voting. Unlike the National
Assembly, the Senate cannot be dissolved by the President.

National AssemblyEdit
National Assembly of Pakistan

Members of the National Assembly are elected by universal adult suffrage (formerly twenty-one
years of age and older but the seventeenth amendment changed it to eighteen years of age.). Seats
are allocated to each of the four provinces, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and
Islamabad Capital Territory on the basis of population. National Assembly members serve for the
parliamentary term, which is five years, unless they die or resign sooner, or unless the National
Assembly is dissolved. Although the vast majority of the members are Muslim, about 5 percent
of the seats are reserved for minorities, including Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs. Elections for
minority seats are held on the basis of separate electorates at the same time as the polls for Muslim
seats during the general elections. There are also 50+ special seats for women now, and women
are selected (i.e. not directly elected in the general election but given representation according to
how their parties performed in the general election) on these seat by their party head: another
seventeenth amendment innovation.

Judicial branchEdit
The judiciary includes the Supreme Court, provincial high courts, District & sessions Courts,
Civil and Magistrate courts exercising civil and criminal jurisdiction.[19] Some federal and
provincial courts and tribunals such as Services court, Income tax & excise court, Banking court
and Boards of Revenue's Tribunals are as well established in all provinces.
Supreme CourtEdit
In reference of ARTICLE 175 (A) APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES [20]
The Supreme Court has original, appellate, and advisory jurisdiction.

(1) There shall be a Judicial Commission of Pakistan, hereinafter in this Article referred to as the
Commission, for appointment of Judges of the Supreme Court, High Courts and the Federal
Shariat Court, as hereinafter provided.
(2) For appointment of Judges of the Supreme Court, the Commission shall consist of---

(i) Chief Justice of Pakistan; Chairman (ii) [four] most senior Judges of the Supreme
Court;Member (iii) a former Chief Justice or a former Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to
be nominated by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, in consultation with the [four] member Judges, for
a term of two years; Member (iv) Federal Minister for Law and Justice;Member (v) Attorney-
General for Pakistan; and Member (vi) a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan
nominated by the Pakistan Bar Council for a term of two years.Member

(3) Now withstanding anything contained in clause (1) or clause (2), the President shall appoint
the most senior Judge of the Supreme Court as the Chief Justice of Pakistan. The chief justice and
judges of the Supreme Court may remain in office until age sixty-five: now 68 years and this is
also another clause of seventeenth amendment.

Federal Shariat Court of PakistanEdit

The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) of Pakistan is a court which has the power to examine and
determine whether the laws of the country comply with Shari'a law. It consists of 8 Muslim judges
appointed by the President of Pakistan after consulting the Chief Justice of this Court, from
amongst the serving or retired judges of the Supreme Court or a High Court or from amongst
persons possessing the qualifications of judges of a High Court. Of the 8 judges, 3 are required
to be Ulema who are well versed in Islamic law. The judges hold office for a period of 3 years,
which may eventually be extended by the President. Appeal against its decisions lie to the Shariat
Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court, consisting of 3 Muslim judges of the Supreme Court and
2 Ulema, appointed by the President. If any part of the law is declared to be against Islamic law,
the government is required to take necessary steps to amend such law appropriately. The court
also exercises revisional jurisdiction over the criminal courts, deciding Hudood cases. The
decisions of the court are binding on the High Courts as well as subordinate judiciary. The court
appoints its own staff and frames its own rules of procedure. Ever since its establishment in 1980,
the Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan has been the subject of criticism and controversy in the
society. Created as an islamisation measure by the military regime and subsequently protected
under the controversial 8th Amendment, its opponents question the very rationale and utility of
this institution. It is stated that this court merely duplicates the functions of the existing superior
courts and also operates as a check on the sovereignty of Parliament. The composition of the
court, particularly the mode of appointment of its judges and the insecurity of their tenure, is
taken exception to, and it is alleged, that this court does not fully meet the criterion prescribed for
the independence of the judiciary. That is to say, it is not immune to pressures and influences
from the Executive. In the past, this court was used as a refuge for the recalcitrant judges. And
whereas some of its judgments, particularly the ones which relying on the Islamic concept of
equity, justice and fair play, expanded and enlarged the scope and contents of individual's rights
were commended, others that tend to restrict the rights of women, are severely criticized and
deplored.
Provincial and High CourtsEdit
In every province, there is one High Court. Currently all four provinces Punjab, Sindh, Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have High courts, respectively called Lahore High Court, Sindh
High Court, Peshawar High Court, and Balochistan High Court. After the approval of 18th
Constitutional Amendment in April 2010, a new High court is established at Federal Capital
Islamabad with the name of Islamabad High Court. In 18th Amendment, judges appointments are
proposed by a Parliamentary Commission. Judges of the provincial high courts were, previously
appointed (The seventeenth amendment give these powers to the president, previously Prime
minister exercised them) by the president after consultation with the chief justice of the Supreme
Court, as well as the governor of the province and the chief justice of the high court to which the
appointment is being made. High courts have original and appellate jurisdiction.
In addition, there are special courts and tribunals to deal with specific kinds of cases, such as drug
courts, commercial courts, labour courts, traffic courts, an insurance appellate tribunal, an income
tax appellate tribunal, and special courts for bank offences. There are also special courts to try
terrorists. Appeals from special courts go to high courts except for labour and traffic courts, which
have their own forums for appeal. Appeals from the tribunals go to the Supreme Court.

Ombudsman/MohtasibEdit
A further feature of the judicial system is the office of Mohtasib (Ombudsman), which is provided
for in the constitution. The office of Mohtasib was established in many early Muslim states to
ensure that no wrongs were done to citizens. Appointed by the president, the Mohtasib holds
office for four years; the term cannot be extended or renewed. The Mohtasib's purpose is to
institutionalize a system for enforcing administrative accountability, through investigating and
rectifying any injustice done to a person through maladministration by a federal agency or a
federal government official. The Mohtasib is empowered to award compensation to those who
have suffered loss or damage as a result of maladministration. Excluded from jurisdiction,
however, are personal grievances or service matters of a public servant as well as matters relating
to foreign affairs, national defence, and the armed services. This institution is designed to bridge
the gap between administrator and citizen, to improve administrative processes and procedures,
and to help curb misuse of discretionary powers.

Pakistan has been ruled by both democratic and military governments. The first decade was
marred with political unrest and instability, with frequent collapses of civilian democratic
governments that eventually led to the 1958 military coup. Since 1947 till present now, Pakistan
has been governed by various of both right-wing conservative governments and left-wing
socialistic oriented governments, while neither far-right and far-left had failed to achieve enough
majority to claim the exclusive mandate. From 1947 to 1958 as many as seven Prime Ministers
of Pakistan either resigned or were ousted. On October 7, 1958 Pakistan's civilian and first
President Iskander Mirza in collaboration with General Mohammad Ayub Khan abrogated
Pakistan's constitution and declared Martial Law. General Ayub Khan was the president from
1958 to 1969, and General Yahya Khan from 1969 to 1971, Chief Justice Habib Khan Marvath
elected first Chairman Senate of Pakistan. Civilian, yet socialist-oriented autocratic, rule
continued from 1972 to 1977 under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, but he was deposed by General Zia-Ul-
Haq. General Zia was killed in a plane crash in 1988, after which Benazir Bhutto, daughter of
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. She was the youngest woman
ever to be elected the Head of Government and the first woman to be elected as the Head of
Government of a Muslim country. Her government was followed by that of Nawaz Sharif, and
the two leaders alternated until the military coup by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999. From the
resignation of President Rafiq Tarar in 2001, to his own resignation in 2008, Musharraf was the
President of Pakistan. In 2008, Asif Ali Zardari was elected president.
Form of GovernmentEdit
Officially a federal republic, Pakistan has had a long history of alternating periods of electoral
democracy and authoritarian military government. Military presidents include General Ayub
Khan in the 1960s, General Zia ul Haq in the 1980s, and General Pervez Musharraf from 1999.
However, a majority of Pakistan's Heads of State and Heads of Government have been elected
civilian leaders. General elections were held in October 2002. After monitoring the elections, the
Commonwealth Observer Group stated in conclusion:
We believe that on election day this was a credible election: the will of the people was
expressed and the results reflected their wishes. However, in the context of various
measures taken by the government we are not persuaded of the overall fairness of the
process as a whole.[21]
On May 22, 2004, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group re-admitted Pakistan into
the Commonwealth, formally acknowledging its progress in returning to democracy.

Kashmir in Pakistani politicsEdit

Azad Kashmir has its own constitution, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Interim Constitution Act
of 1974, and a locally chosen parliamentary form of government, as described above . The
constitution allows for many of the structures that comprise a self-governing state, including a
legislative assembly elected through periodic elections, a prime minister who commands the
majority in the assembly, an indirectly elected president, an independent judiciary, and local
government institutions.

But these provisions are hollow. Under Section 56 of the Jammu and Kashmir Interim
Constitution Act (which was drafted by the Federal Ministries of Law and Kashmir Affairs in
Islamabad), the Pakistani government can dismiss any elected government in Azad Kashmir
irrespective of the support it may enjoy in the AJK Legislative Assembly. The Interim
Constitution Act provides for two executive forums—the Azad Kashmir Government in
Muzaffarabad and the Azad Kashmir Council in Islamabad.
The latter body, presided over by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, exercises paramount authority
over the AJK Legislative Assembly, which cannot challenge decisions of the council. The council
is under the numerical control of the federal government in Islamabad, as in addition to the
Pakistani prime minister it comprises six other federal ministers, the minister of Kashmir affairs
as the ex-officio member, the prime minister of Azad Kashmir, and six Azad Kashmir members
elected by the Legislative Assembly.38 The interim constitution act lists fifty-two subjects—
virtually everything of any importance—that are under the jurisdiction of the Azad Kashmir
Council, which has been described as the “supra power” by the Azad Kashmir High Court. Its
decisions are final and not subject to judicial review.
Thus, Azad Kashmir remains for all intents and purposes under Pakistan's strict control,
exercising no real sovereignty of its own. From the outset, the institutional set up in the territory
was designed to ensure Pakistan's control of the area's affairs. According to the United Nations
Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) 39 resolutions, Azad Kashmir is neither a sovereign
state nor a province of Pakistan, but rather a “local authority” with responsibility over the area
assigned to it under the current 2003 ceasefire line agreement. 40 The “local authority”
 or Provisional government of Azad Kashmir as established in October 1947 handed over to
Pakistan under the Karachi Agreement of April 28, 1949, matters related to defense, foreign
affairs, negotiations with the UNCIP and coordination of all affairs relating to Gilgit and Baltistan
(strategically important territories that now comprise Pakistan's “Northern Areas”.
Provincial GovernmentsEdit

The subdivisions of Pakistan

Pakistan is subdivided into 4 provinces, 2 territories, and 1 capital territory. Each province has a
Provincial Assembly, a directly elected legislature. Members are elected for five-year terms. Each
Assembly elects a Chief Minister, who then selects the ministers of his or her cabinet.
 Balochistan
 Federally Administered Tribal Areas*
 Islamabad Capital Territory**
 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
 Punjab
 Sindh
 Gilgit–Baltistan has semi-provincial status with a directly elected legislature, an elected chief
minister and federally appointed governor for the region.
 Note: the federally administered portion also includes the disputed/held Kashmir region
includes Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas.
See also: Government of Pakistan
Local GovernmentsEdit
Pakistan's provinces are divided into districts called zillas in local languages (counterpart to a
county in US or UK terminology). A zilla is further subdivided into tehsils (roughly equivalent
to a borough in an integrated multi-tier (federated) systemic context, such as the one to be found
in Montreal (Canada, 2002) and Birmingham (UK, 2001 announcement) or known
as arrondissements in French context. Tehsils may contain town or municipalities. Pakistan's
system is the one that applies an integrated federated systemic framework most comprehensively,
so far.
This methodology is not new to the region, as it is similar to what is referred to as the
old Panchayat Raj system in India that was introduced by Britain during the colonial era. In the
1890s Britain had become the first nation to adapt the two-tier administrative framework of
revolutionary Paris (1790) onto pre-existing parish councils in the urban context (London) and
into three tiers in the rural context (county, district, parish councils). In India it was implemented
in some regions and not others; and then allowed to lie fallow. It got new life after the very
successful West Bengal revival in the 1970s, which eventually inspired the 1990s Constitutional
Amendment making it national policy.
The main difference is that Pakistan is the only country with an urban framework, as well, in the
region today; and Pakistan's system has common-representational framework between tiers (as
Montreal and Birmingham also have in two-tier context—even though Birmingham is working
on implementing a three-tier system); and, it has a bottom-up representational framework like the
Canadian example. Pakistan had the only three-tier integrated bottom-up common-
representational local government system, until it was adapted for another country in 2003. UK,
the country which first introduced this methodology in the region, also has the urban examples of
London and Birmingham (being implemented in the post-2001 era by building on steps first
introduced in the 1980s); as does France (where largest cities and smaller units have created such
frameworks either by devolution (Marseilles and Lyon, in addition to Paris) or by integration of
neighbouring units (such as the Nantes region pursuant to the Marcellin Act of the 1970s); and
Canada.
This methodology is being increasingly adapted, as it delivers greater systemic productivity,
being a more inclusive framework that provides greater regional integration. In the US, the seven
county Twin Cities (MN) regional system and Portland (OR) Metro are both the most integrated
US examples; but, also those often cited in the US for what they have achieved. These US
examples — with their multi-county framework — are similar to what is in place in France after
regional unit introduction (making France have a three-tier systemic framework also in the
Commune (municipal/lowest tier local unit), Department (county), Regional unit context). Multi-
county frameworks are suitable for a very suburbanized system like in the US. After France and
Britain, the Indian colony of Britain was the third region to see this methodology implemented.
There are over five thousand local governments in Pakistan. Since 2001, the vast majority of these
have been led by democratically elected local councils, each headed by a Nazim (mayor or
supervisor.) Council elections are held every four years.
Foreign relationsEdit
Main article: Foreign relations of Pakistan

The Map of Pakistan

Pakistan is the second largest Muslim country in terms of population, and its status as a declared nuclear power,
being the only Muslim nation to have that status, plays a part in its international role. It is also an active member
of the United Nations. Historically, its foreign policy has encompassed difficult relations with India, a desire for
a stable Afghanistan, long-standing close relations with the People's Republic of China, extensive security and
economic interests in the Persian Gulf and wide-ranging bilateral relations with the United States and other
Western countries. Pakistan is also an important member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Pakistan has used the OIC as a forum for Enlightened Moderation,[22] its plan to promote
a renaissance and enlightenment in the Islamic world.
Wary of Soviet expansion, Pakistan had strong relations with both the United States of America and the People's
Republic of China during much of the Cold War. It was a member of the CENTO and SEATO military alliances.
Its alliance with the United States was especially close after the Soviets invaded the neighbouring country
of Afghanistan.
In 1964, Pakistan signed the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) Pact with Turkey and Iran, when all
three countries were closely allied with the U.S., and as neighbours of the Soviet Union, wary of perceived Soviet
expansionism. To this day, Pakistan has a close relationship with Turkey. RCD became defunct after the Iranian
Revolution, and a Pakistani-Turkish initiative led to the founding of the Economic Cooperation
Organization (ECO) in 1985. Pakistan's relations with India have improved recently and this has opened up
Pakistan's foreign policy to issues beyond security. This development might completely change the complexion
of Pakistan's foreign relations.
Pakistan joined Non-Aligned Movement in 1979.[23]