1. Pakistan gained independence from British rule in 1947 and adopted a parliamentary system of government. It was initially divided into two wings but East Pakistan later became the independent nation of Bangladesh after a war of independence. 2. The country has experienced periods of democratic civilian rule as well as martial law under military dictatorships. The current constitution was ratified in 1973 and establishes a federal parliamentary republic. 3. The government is composed of three branches - the executive branch led by the Prime Minister, the legislative branch made up of the parliament, and an independent judiciary headed by the Supreme Court.

1. 1
Pakistan, officially known as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a sovereign
country in Asia. Pakistan means ‘Land of the Pure’ in Persian and Urdu. The
capitol of Pakistan is Islamabad. Pakistan is one of the Nuclear Powers in the
world and it is also considered as the spokesperson for the Islamic countries of
the world. Pakistan is a developing country and as per the current status it is
also the fifth largest democracy in the world.
Past Political Setup of Pakistan
Pakistan became independent from the British rule on 14th
August 1947, when British India was divided into two countries.
After independence Pakistan adopted parliamentary form of government. Pakistan was
divided into 2 wings: West-Pakistan and East-Pakistan. Liaquat Ali Khan was elected as the
first Prime Minister of Pakistan and Mohammad Ali Jinnah became the first Governor-
General. Liaquat Ali Khan started initiative towards formulation of constitution and
produced The Objectives Resolution in 1949, which served as the annex to Pakistan's
constitution. Mohammed Ali Jinnah remained the Governor-General of Pakistan until his
death on September 11, 1948.
The first Pakistani constituent assembly was elected in 1947 and after nine years Pakistan
adopted the constitution and became a Republic on March 23, 1956. . However this
constitution was short lived. In October 1958, President Iskander Mirza staged a coup d'état
and abolished the constitution. Shortly afterwards General Ayub Khan deposed Iskandar
and declared himself president. In 1960 Ayub Khan appointed a commission to draft a new
constitution. The new Constitution of 1962 was decreed by President Ayub in March of that
year. On 25 March 1969 the Second Martial Law was imposed; President Ayub Khan
abolished the 1962 constitution and handed over power to the Army Commander-in-Chief,
General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan
The present Constitution of Pakistan was drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,
with an additionally assistance from the country's opposition parties, it was approved by
the legislative assembly on April 10 and ratified on 14 August 1973. Unlike the previous
legal documents of 1956 and 1962, the 1973 constitution cannot be changed; instead,
constitutional amendments are added to it, altering its effect.

2. 2
Division of East and West Pakistan
There was a lot of tension between East-Pakistan and West-Pakistan due to the declaration
of Urdu as its official language by Jinnah. It sparked protests in East Pakistan (earlier East
Bengal), where Bengali was spoken by most of the population.
The people of East-Pakistan launched the Bengali
Language Movement which reached its peak on 21
February 1952 when the police opened fire on
students near the Dhaka Medical College protesting
for Bengali to receive equal status with Urdu. Several
protesters were killed, which further infuriated the
people and the movement gained further support
throughout East Pakistan. Finally, the Government
agreed to provide equal status to Bengali as a state
language of Pakistan, a right which was later codified
in the 1956 constitution.
Even after the amendment in the constitution West
Pakistan continued to dominate East Pakistan. East-Pakistan and West-Pakistan were
separated by thousand miles and practiced different traditions and cultures. Their
prominent diversity exacerbated the situation. East Pakistan continued to have riots and
rallies against the government. The General elections held in 1970, the Peoples Party lead
by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto won in West Pakistan and Awami League lead by Sheikh Mujibur
Rehman won in East Pakistan.
On March 26th, 1971 Sheikh Mujibur
Rehman proclaimed the independent
state of Bangladesh, or Bengali nation.
The Military arrested Sheikh Mujibur
Rehman and declared full military action
in East Pakistan. India supported the
Mukti Bahini of East and full war broke
out between supporters of Bangladesh
and Pakistan. Pakistan army lacked
coordination and the war ended with
Pakistan army surrendering to Indian
Army on December 16, 1971.
ZulfikarAli Bhutto & Sheikh MujiburRehman

3. 3
Transitional Phases in the Pakistani Government
Military rule prevailed in Pakistan for two decades following its Republic. In 1951, the
Military Intelligence Major-General Syed Shahid Hamid foiled an attempted coup d'état,
planned by Major-General Akbar Khan, then Chief of the Generals Headquarter (GHQ) was
arrested along with a number of officers from Pakistan Army. It was the first conspiracy
against the elected government.
Martial Law in Pakistan
Martial law was declared in Pakistan on 7th October
1958 when President Iskander Mirza staged a coup
d'état. He imposed martial law and appointed
General Muhammad Ayub Khan as the Chief Martial
Law Administrator (who was later deposed in 27
October 1958) and Aziz Ahmad as Secretary General
and Deputy Chief Martial Law Administrator. Four
years after the coup a new document, Constitution of
1962, was adopted.
The second martial law was imposed on 25 March 1969, when President Ayub Khan
abrogated the Constitution of 1962 and handed the
power over to the Army Commander-in-Chief, General
Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan. Once General Yahya
Khan became the
president he gave
in to popular
demands of the
public by
abolishing the one-
unit system in
West Pakistan and
ordered general elections on the principle of one man
one vote.
President Iskander Mirza
President Ayub Khan
General Yahya Khan

4. 4
Coup of General Musharraf
One of the most powerful military coups was
that lead by General Pervez Musharraf on 12th
October 1999. He overthrew the elected Prime
minister, Nawaz Sharif, and his existing elected
government. General Musharraf declared a
state of emergency and issued a Provisional
Constitutional Order.
The coup was considered legal by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, but it was limited to only
3 years. So after ruling for 3 years, Musharraf held a national referendum on allowing
himself to continue his rule, on 30 April 2002. He won the referendum by almost 98% of the
votes in his favor, but his success was believed to be fraud by many democracy activists and
the Human Rights Organization.
Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif were arrested and later on exiled, as a result of
an agreement, on 11 December 2000.
In August, 2002, he amended the constitution of Pakistan and issued a ‘Legal Framework.’
Now, Musharraf had the right to dismiss the national or the provincial assemblies. However,
election were still held in Pakistan but according to the constitution amended my General
Musharraf, the final power was held by military officers and Pervez Musharraf himself.
Pervez Musharraf served as the tenth President
of Pakistan from 2001 until 2008. After the
suspension of the Chief Justice in 2007, he
dramatically fell from power in 2008 and
resigned from his presidential post. He spent
the next 4 years in London and returned to
Pakistan on 24th March 2013, in order to
participate in the upcoming general elections,
despite receiving death threats from the
Taliban.

5. 5
Democratic Features of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan is a federal government established by the Constitution of
Pakistan. The government is composed of the three branches, namely: executive,
legislative, and judicial.
The Judiciary
The judiciary of Pakistan has two classes of courts: the superior (or higher) judiciary and the
subordinate (or lower) judiciary. The judicial branch
systematically contains the Supreme Court of Pakistan at
its apex, followed by the Federal Shariat Court and then
the five High Courts. There is a High Court for each of the
four provinces as well as a High Court for the Islamabad
Capital Territory.
The President (Head of the State)
The president who is elected by an electoral college is
the ceremonial head of the state and is the civilian
commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces (with
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee as its principal
military adviser), but military appointments and key
confirmations in the armed forces are made by the prime
minister after reviewing the reports on their merit and
performances. Almost all appointed officers in the
judicial branches, military chiefs, chairman and branches, and legislatures require the
executive confirmation from the prime minister, whom the President must consult, by law.
However, the powers to pardon and grant clemency vest with the President of Pakistan.
The Legislative
The Parliament of Pakistan, officially termed the Majlis-e-Shoora is the federal and supreme
legislative body of Pakistan. It is a bicameral Parliament with the National Assembly as a
lower house and the Senate as an upper house. According to the constitution the President
of Pakistan is also one of the constituent of the Parliament.
Aiwan-e-Sadr, official residency
of President of Pakistan

6. 6
The National Assembly of is the lower house of the Parliament. It is elected for a span of five
years on the basis on universal adult franchise and one man one vote. The National
Assembly has 342 seats, 272 of which are directly elected,
60 are reserved for women and 10 for religious minorities.
The role of the Senate is to promote national unity and
harmony and to ease fears of the smaller provinces
regarding domination by any one province because of its
majority, in the National Assembly. The Senate represents
the provinces/territories of the country and one of its
aspects is to create a feeling of equality and harmony,
which is essential for the growth and prosperity of a nation.
It consists of 104 members, of which 14 members are
elected by each Provincial Assembly and 8 members are
elected from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATAs).
The Executive
The executive branch in the government consists of the President (Head of State), the Prime
Minister (Chief Executive) and the Federal Cabinet which consists of the most senior and
elected officers of the executive branch of the Government of Pakistan. All the members of
the Cabinet are nominated and appointed by the Prime Minister who is elected by the
people. So, the members of the Cabinet are indirectly elected by the people of Pakistan.
Provincial Governments
Each of the four province has a similar system of government, with a directly elected
Provincial Assembly in which the leader of the largest party or coalition is elected Chief
Minister. Chief Ministers oversees the provincial government and head the provincial
cabinet; it is common in Pakistan to have different ruling parties or coalitions in the
provinces. The provincial assemblies have power to make laws and approve provincial
budget which is commonly presented by the provincial finance minister every fiscal year.
Provincial governors who play role as the ceremonial head of province are appointed by the
President

7. 7
Present Political Parties in Pakistan
There are several political parties existing in Pakistan, some of the well-known ones are:
Pakistan Muslim League
PML-N is led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who is also a
wealthy industrialist. On 11th May 2013, the PML (PML
Nawaz group, or PML-N) became Pakistan's ruling party
and it still currently is the ruling party. Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif has been the PML leader since 2011. It is a
fiscally conservative party which holds moderate religious
and social policies. It promotes strong and friendly relations with India, the US and Europe.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
The Pakistan Tehreed-e-Insaf Party is led by Imran Khan -
who was a former cricketer – under the slogan “Change.” On
25 April 1996, in Lahore, the Pakistan Movement for Justice
(PTI), a social democratic and radical political movement, was
founded by Imran Khan. The PTI boycotted the 2008 general
elections but became more politically active in 2011.
Pakistan People’s Party
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is led by Asif Ali Zardari, the
former President of Pakistan. It was founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
(1928 - 1979). Under Benazir Bhutto, the PPP became a secular
party.
Awami National Party
The Awami National Party was founded by Abdul Wali Khan on in 1968. It is a secular party
and ardently promotes democratic socialism. Asfandyar Wali
Khan, grandson of Bacha Khan is the president of the ANP.
Between 2008 and 2013, it was a part of the ruling PPP led
coalition.

8. 8
Problems faced by People of Pakistan
In today Pakistan we are facing many problems. Like energy problems, terrorism, drones
attacks, unemployment and inflation. These
are main problems of today Pakistan.
Energy Crisis: Pakistan is in the midst of one
of the worst energy crises in its history. This is
both slowing the pace of economic activity
and causing public unrest with prolonged
outages of electricity and gas. Capacity
utilization in some key industries has fallen to
nearly 50 percent. Pakistan urgently needs to
make some strategic decisions and change
the national energy mix.
Inflation problem: Pakistan, with a
population of about 16 million people has undergone a remarkable macro-economic growth
during last few years, but the core problems of the economy are still unsolved. Inflation is
one of these core problems. Government claims that in order to keep the prices of essential
commodities under control, it has been taking various measures throughout the year. The
inflation rate in Pakistan was last reported at 13.04 percent in April of 2011. Inflation rate
refers to a general rise in prices measured against a standard level of purchasing power. It
needs to be controlled by strategic planning.
Unemployment Problems: Unemployment is also well known problem of Pakistan today
facing. The unemployment rate in Pakistan was last reported at 5.50 percent in December
of 2009. From 1990 until 2009, Pakistan's Unemployment Rate averaged 5.88 percent
reaching an historical high of 8.27 percent in December of 2002 and a record low of 3.13
percent in December of 1990.
Terrorism/ Extremism: Terrorism in Pakistan has become a major and highly destructive
phenomenon in recent years. The annual death toll from terrorist attacks has risen from
164 in 2003 to 3318 in 2009, with a total of 35,000 Pakistanis killed between September 11,
2001 and May 2011. According to the government of Pakistan, the direct and indirect
economic costs of terrorism from 2000–2010 was about $68 billion. Previous Governments
have admitted that terrorist outfits were "deliberately created and nurtured" by past
governments "as a policy to achieve some short-term tactical objectives

9. 9
Women Empowerment in Pakistan
During Benazir Bhutto’s election campaigns in 1988, she voiced concerns over social issues
of women and discrimination against
women in Pakistan. She announced
different plans to set up women's police
stations, courts and women's development
banks. She also promised to repeal
controversial Hudood laws that abridged
the rights of women.
During Asif Zardari’s presidential (2008-
2013) period his government’s highest
priority was to address discriminatory laws against women. The Women in Distress and
Detention Fund Act 2011 has been publicized to provide financial and legal assistance to
deserving women.
The Pakistani government, under the
presidency of Nawaz Sharif, believes that the
country could not make progress without
providing equal opportunities to women who
were also the part of the society. Nawaz
Sharif along with several other misters took
appropriate decisions to bring women on par
with men. Mr. Sharif lead the government to
take measures to ensure women’s rights as
envisioned in the CEDAW (the Convention on
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women) where it is still taking multiple
reforms to enable women to participate in all
walks of life.

10. 10
The Present Political Setup of Pakistan
Present Prime Minister of Pakistan is Mr. Nawaz Sharif. He belongs to the Pakistan Muslim
League – N Party. PML-N is the main political force in Punjab, the most populous province in
Pakistan.
Mr. Sharif had also earlier held the post of the Prime Minister but his government was
toppled by military coup lead by Pervez Musharraf. After he was jailed and later exiled from
Pakistan. He returned to Pakistan in 2008 and his party, PML-N won the election with great
majority by defeating Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) lead by Asif Ali Zardari.
Pakistan is presently going through deep economic crisis which has to be sorted out to
maintain Pakistan’s status in world economy.
Another major challenge currently faced by Pakistan is the security from extremists and
terrorist organizations.
The neighboring countries have welcomed the election of Nawaz Sharif and there are hopes
that Mr. Sharif’s government will bring stability in Pakistan and the surrounding region.

11. 11
Bibliography
Wikipedia – www.wikipedia.org
Britannica – www.britannica.com
BBC – www.bbc.com
Pakistani – www.pakistani.org
Pakistan Embassy – www.embassyofpakistanusa.org
Pictures – Google Images
Global Security – www.globalsecurity.com
Dawn – www.dawn.com
Jang – www.jang.com