List of presidents of

Pakistan

The head of state of Pakistan from

independence until Pakistan became a
republic in 1956 was the British
monarch. For the Governor-Generals
who represented them from 1947 to
1956, see Governor-General of Pakistan.
Flag of the President of Pakistan

The President of Pakistan is the head of

state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
According to the Constitution of Pakistan,
the President has "powers, subject to
Supreme Court approval or veto, to
dissolve the National Assembly, triggering
new elections, and thereby dismissing the
Prime Minister".[1] These powers were
repeatedly modified through amendments
to the constitution, which were introduced
as the results of military coups and
changes in government. Since the 18th
Amendment to the Constitution was
passed in 2010, Pakistan has been shifted
back from semi-presidential to a
parliamentary democratic republic. Under
that system, the president has limited
ruling powers, and performs ceremonial
duties while the Prime Minister enjoys
more powers to execute decisions.[2] The
president is chosen by the Electoral
College composed of the Senate, the
National Assembly and the Provincial
Assemblies.[3]

There have been thirteen presidents of

Pakistan since the introduction of the post
in 1956.[4] The office was established
when Pakistan was declared as a republic
with the adoption of the 1956 constitution,
and Iskander Mirza became the first
president of the country.[5][6] Apart from
these twelve, two acting presidents have
also been in office for short periods of
time. One of them, Wasim Sajjad, served
as acting president on two non-
consecutive occasions during 1993 and
1997–98.[7] The president may remain in
office for a tenure of five years. In the case
where a president's term of office is
terminated early or during the absence of
the president, the Chairman of the Senate
assumes office.[3]

Six presidents have been members of a

political party and four of them were active
party members of the Pakistan Peoples
Party (PPP). The first president was a
retired military officer, four others were
incumbent military officers of which three
gained power through successful military
coups in Pakistan's history – Ayub Khan in
1958, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1977 and
Pervez Musharraf in 1999.[4][8] President
Zia died in office when his aircraft crashed
while returning from Bahawalpur to
Islamabad on 17 August 1988.[9][10] Khan,
during his two terms, remained in the
office for the longest period with ten years
and five months approximately.[n 1][11]

The current president of Pakistan is Arif

Alvi of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf.[12]
Line of succession and
removal
The Constitution discusses the possibility
of an acting president. in Chapter 1: The
President, Part III: The Federation of
Pakistan in the Constitution of Pakistan.
Certain office-holders, however, are
permitted to stand as presidential
candidates in case of vacancy as the
constitution does not include a position of
vice president:

The Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan

 The Speaker of the National Assembly
of Pakistan. in Chapter 1: The President,
Part III: The Federation of Pakistan in
the Constitution of Pakistan.

Territory
The dominion began as a federation of five
provinces: East Bengal (later to become
Bangladesh), West Punjab, Balochistan,
Sindh, and the North-West Frontier
Province (NWFP). Each province had its
own governor, who was appointed by the
Governor-General of Pakistan. In addition,
over the following year the princely states
of Pakistan, which covered a significant
area of West Pakistan, acceded to
Pakistan. They included Bahawalpur,
Khairpur, Swat, Dir, Hunza, Chitral, Makran,
and the Khanate of Kalat.

Radcliffe Line E…

The controversial Radcliffe Award, not

published until 17 August 1947 specified
the Radcliffe Line which demarcated the
border between the parts of British India
allocated to the two new independent
dominions of India and Pakistan. The
Radcliffe Boundary Commission sought to
separate the Muslim-majority regions in
the east and northwest from the areas
with a Hindu majority. This entailed the
partition of two British provinces which did
not have a uniform majority — Bengal and
Punjab. The western part of Punjab
became the Pakistani province of Punjab
and the eastern part became the Indian
state of Punjab. Bengal was similarly
divided into East Bengal (in Pakistan) and
West Bengal (in India).
The Radcliffe commission had no power
to divide the territory of the princely states
of India.

Reign of Elizabeth II
During the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
in 1953, she was crowned as Queen of
seven independent Commonwealth
countries, including Pakistan, which was
still a dominion at the time, whereas India
was not, as the dominion of India had
become a Republic of India under the new
Indian constitution of 1950. As a
dominion, Pakistan was represented by
Governor-General of Pakistan.

Pakistan ceased being a dominion on 23

March 1956 on the adoption of a
republican constitution. However, Pakistan
became a republic within the
Commonwealth of Nations.

The Queen visited Pakistan as Head of the

Commonwealth in 1961 and 1997,
accompanied by Prince Philip, Duke of
Edinburgh.
Pakistan left the Commonwealth in 1972
over the issue of the former East Pakistan
province becoming independent as
Bangladesh. It rejoined in 1989, then was
suspended from the Commonwealth
twice: firstly from 18 October 1999 to 22
May 2004 and secondly from 22
November 2007 to 22 May 2008.

First Republic (1956–present)

Under the 1956 Constitution, the first
constitution of the Republic of Pakistan,
the President replaced the monarch as
ceremonial head of state. The President
was elected by the Electoral College for a
five-year term. In the event of a vacancy
the Speaker of the National Assembly
served as Acting President.

Key
Key for presidents list
Party name

Republican Party

Muslim League (C)

Armed Forces

Independent

Muslim League (Q)

Peoples Party

Muslim League (N)

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf

List of presidents of Pakistan

 Name
No Portrait Took office Left office Elections Political party Note
(Birth–Death)

Iskander  1958
23 March 27 October Republican
1 Mirza Pakistani coup
1956 1958 Party
(1899–1969) d'état

 1958
27 October   Military
2 8 June 1962 Pakistani coup
1958 Dictator
d'état
Ayub Khan Military
(1907–1974) Dictator
29 November 2 January
(2) 8 June 1962 Pakistan
1963 1965
Muslim
League (C)

Fazlul Qadir
Pakistan
Chaudhry 29 November
— 12 June 1965  — Muslim
(1919–1973) 1963
League (C)
Acting

Pakistan
Ayub Khan 31 March 2 January
(2) 12 June 1965 Muslim
(1907–1974) 1969 1965
League (C)

Yahya Khan 31 March 20 December  —Military  Military

3
(1917–1980) 1969 1971 Dictator Dictator

Zulfikar Ali
20 December 13 August 20 December Pakistan
4 Bhutto
1971 1973 1971 Peoples Party
(1928–1979)

Fazal Ilahi
14 August 14 August Pakistan
5 Chaudhry 20 April 1978
1973 1973 Peoples Party
(1904–1982)

— Sheikh 20 April 1978 7 May 1978 14 August Pakistan

 Anwarul Haq 1973 Peoples Party
(1917–1995)
Acting

Fazal Ilahi
16 September 14 August Pakistan
(5) Chaudhry 7 May 1978
1978 1973 Peoples Party
(1904–1982)

Muhammad
16 September 17 August  Military  Military
6 Zia-ul-Haq
1978 1988 Dictator Dictator
(1924–1988)

Ghulam Ishaq
17 August 13 December
7 Khan 18 July 1993 Independent
1988 1988
(1915–2006)

Wasim Sajjad 1995 Pakistani Pakistan

14 November
— (1941– ) 18 July 1993 coup d'état Muslim
1993
Acting attempt League (N)

Farooq
14 November 2 December 14 November Pakistan
8 Leghari
1993 1997 1993 Peoples Party
(1940–2010)

Wasim Sajjad Pakistan

27 December 1 January
— (1941– ) — Muslim
1997 1998
Acting League (N)

31 December
Muhammad Pakistan
1 January 1997 1999
9 Rafiq Tarar 20 June 2001 Muslim
1998 Pakistani coup
(1929–) League (N)
d'état

Pervez 6 October 1 January  Military

10 20 June 2001
Musharraf 2007 2004[n 2] Dictator
(1943– )
(10) 6 October 18 August 6 October Military
2007 2008 2007 Dictator
Pakistan
 Muslim
League (Q)

Muhammad
Pakistan
Mian Soomro 18 August 9 September
— — Muslim
(1950– ) 2008 2008
League (N)
Acting

Asif Ali
9 September 9 September 6 September Pakistan
11 Zardari
2008 2013 2008 Peoples Party
(1955– )

Mamnoon Pakistan
9 September 9 September
12 Hussain 30 July 2013 Muslim
2013 2018
(1941– ) League (N)

Incumbent
(Term ends Pakistan
Arif Alvi 9 September 4 September
13 on 9 Tehreek-e-
(1949– ) 2018 2018
September Insaf
2023)

Living former presidents of

Pakistan
Living former presidents
Muhammad Rafiq Tarar
(PML-N)
served 1998–2001
2 November 1929

Pervez Musharraf
(PML-Q)
 (PML-Q)
served 2001–2008
11 August 1943
Asif Ali Zardari
(PPP)
served 2008–2013
26 July 1955
 Mamnoon Hussain
(PML-N)
served 2013–2018
23 December 1941

See also
Governor-General of Pakistan
List international trips made by the
President of Pakistan
 List of Prime Ministers of Pakistan
Military coups in Pakistan
History of Pakistan
Politics of Pakistan
Political history of Pakistan
Constitution of Pakistan of 1956
Constitution of Pakistan of 1962
Constitutional economics
Constitutionalism
List of heads of state of Pakistan

Notes
1. As of July 2017
 2. Musharraf took vote of confidence
from the electoral college of Pakistan
and elected himself as a President of
Pakistan.[13]

References
1. "The President's Role" . Presidency of
the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Archived from the original on 7
November 2012. Retrieved
16 January 2013.
2. "Pakistan parliament agrees to curb
presidential powers" . BBC News. 8
April 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
3. "The constitution of the islamic
republic of pakistan" (pdf). National
Assembly of Pakistan. Retrieved
4 July 2012.
4. "Previous Presidents" . Presidency of
the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. 25
April 2011. Archived from the
original on 7 November 2012.
Retrieved 16 January 2013.
5. Monitoring Desk (14 November
2012). "Former President Iskander
Mirza remembered" . The Frontier
Post. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
 . "Iskander Mirza" .
PakistanHerald.com. Retrieved
16 January 2013.
7. "Wasim Sajjad" . DailyPakistan.com.
Archived from the original on 14 May
2013. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
. "World: South Asia – Pakistan's army
and its history of politics" . BBC
News. 12 October 1999. Retrieved
16 January 2013.
9. Fathers, Michael (18 August 1998).
"Obituary: President Mohammad Zia
ul — Haq" . The Independent.
Retrieved 16 January 2013.
10. Ali, Hasan (19 August 2008). "4
military dictators among 14 heads of
state under Officers' Club of
Revolutionary Armed Forces" . Daily
Times. Archived from the original on
16 April 2013. Retrieved 16 January
2013.
11. Aziz, Sartaj (2009). Between Dreams
and Realities: Some Milestones in
Pakistan’s History . Karachi, Pakistan:
Oxford University Press. p. 408.
ISBN 978-0-19-547718-4. Archived
from the original on 2013-09-19.
 12. "Arif Alvi sworn in as 13th President
of Pakistan" . DAWN.COM. 9
September 2018. Retrieved
12 September 2018.
13. Waldman, Amy (2 January 2004).
"Pakistan gives Musharraf confidence
vote as president" . The New York
Times. Retrieved 20 January 2013.

External links
"Presidents" . WorldStatesman.org.
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=List_of_presidents_of_Pakistan&oldid=962059
283"

Last edited 6 days ago by Muhammad236

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