Political Evolution in Pakistan since 1971

With the dismemberment of Pakistan in 1971, General Yahya Khan handed over his
powers to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who took over the country as civil martial law
administrator. He remained civil martial law administrator till the implementation of
1973 constitution in which he assumed the role of prime minister and nominated
Fazal Elahi Chaudry as the president of Pakistan. Approval of 1973 constitution from
all political stakeholders was one of the major political victories of the then PPP
government. In 1977, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s government held early elections with an
alleged attempt to defeat the unprepared opposition of the Pakistan National
Alliance (PNA).

On the road to election, PNA (an alliance of nine political parties) started a massive
election campaign by canvassing door and door and in a short span of time garnered
huge support which was reflected in the crowd that they used to draw in their
election rallies. The results of the election stunned the opposition parties in which
PPP emerged as the single largest party with 95% votes in their bag. This prompted a
countrywide agitation from the PNA leaders, which ultimately took the shape of
Tehreek-e-Nizam-e-Mustafa. On this pretext, General Zia Ul Haq dismissed the
democratic government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and imposed martial law in the
country.

General Zia immediately started his Islamization program with an aim to bring the
constitution of the country in conformity with Holy Quran and Sunnah. He held a
referendum on a single point agenda of Islamic reforms. According to the official
results, more than 95% people acceded to this agenda. Before that, General Zia Ul
Haq hanged Bhutto on the charges of murder of a political opponent. In 1985, polls
for the national and provincial assemblies were held on the non-party basis in which
conventional political leadership was replaced by many new faces that played a key
role in coming years. The reason of non-participation was the boycott call from MRD.
Muhammad Khan Junejo was appointed as the prime minister of Pakistan but he was
later dismissed on the charges of corruption and General Zia announced elections.
Pakistan was going towards another election when Zia died in a tragic incident along
with the American ambassador and many military dignitaries.

After the death of General Zia, Ghulam Ishaq Khan being chairman senate took over
as the president of Pakistan. He announced elections on party-basis, in which PPP
under the leadership of Benazir Bhutto emerged as the largest party. Ghulam Ishaq
Khan dismissed PPP government on corruption charges and announced to hold new
elections in 1990. Islami Jamhoori Ittihad (IJI) emerged as the clear winner and Nawaz
Sharif was elected as the prime minister of Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif put an end to the
policies of Bhutto, which were leaning towards Socialism and opened the country to
foreign investment. He was dismissed in 1993 on the same charges of corruption,
however, Court reinstated his government. A few months later both the President
and Prime minister resigned because of their political scuffle.

Benazir Bhutto again returned to the office in 1993 with an alliance of small political
parties. Benazir government was dismissed by her own party-man and the then
president Farooq Leghari on the allegations of corruption and wrongdoings. 1999
saw the rise of Muslim league with a win of heavy margin. Muslim League under the
leadership of Nawaz Sharif won a two-thirds majority and thus reinstated the lost-
authority of Prime Minister over many constitutional matters.

He attempted to replace General Pervez Musharraf with his close-confidante, General

Zia Uddin, on the 12th of October, 1997. Musharraf’s plane was not allowed to land at
the Karachi Airport, this drew a backlash from the Army. Nawaz Sharif’s Government
was sacked and he was put behind the bars.

General Musharraf attained the role of Martial Law administrator and of president
after some time. Musharraf introduced many reforms in the political system including
the introduction of local bodies system. In 2001, he held a referendum for the
validation of his presidency and martial law. On 6th October, he was again elected as
president by the National Assembly. In the month of November of the same year, he
declared an emergency and suspended the constitution.

In the coming months, Musharraf left his role as the military chief and resigned. PPP
again emerged as victorious after a long time in 2008 under the chairmanship of Asif
Zardari. Asif Ali Zardari was elected as the president and Yousuf Raza Gillani as the
prime minister of Pakistan. Yousuf Raza Gillani was disqualified by the court and Raja
Pervez Ashraf replaced him. In 2013, PPP completed its tenure of five years, which
was an unprecedented trend in the political history of Pakistan. In the most recent
elections of 2013, PML(n) won a clear majority and thus formed the government with
Nawaz Sharif as the prime minister. Another Political Party, PTI, entered the electoral
politics of Pakistan.