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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 cabinet which is headed by Prime Minister of Pakistan, who works with the bicameral parliament and the judiciary. Stipulations set by the constitution provide a delicate check and balance of sharing powers between executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government.
The Constitution of Pakistan, also known as the 1973 Constitution, is the supreme law of Pakistan. The document guides Pakistan's law, political culture, and system. It sets out the state's outline, the fundamental rights of the population, the state's law and orders, and also the structure and establishment of the institutions and the armed forces. Drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, with additional assistance from the country's opposition parties, it was unanimously approved by the 5th Parliament on 10 April and ratified on 14 August 1973. The first three chapters establish the rules, mandate, and separate powers of the three branches of the government: a bicameral legislature; an executive branch governed by the Prime Minister as chief executive; and an apex federal judiciary headed by Supreme Court. The Constitution designates the President of Pakistan as a ceremonial Head of State who is to represent the unity of the state. The first six articles of the constitution outline the political system as federal parliamentary republic system; as well as Islam as its state religion. The Constitution also encapsulates provisions stipulating the legal system's compliance with Islamic injunctions contained in the Quran and Sunnah.
The prime minister of Pakistan is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Pakistan serving as the nominal head of executive. The prime minister is often the leader of the party or the coalition with a majority in the lower house of the Parliament of Pakistan, the National Assembly where he serves as Leader of the House. Prime minister holds office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the National Assembly. The prime minister is designated as the "chief executive of the Islamic Republic".
The National Assembly of Pakistan is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the upper house being the Senate. As of 2023, the National Assembly has a maximum membership of 336, of which 266 are directly elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past-the-post system to represent their respective constituencies, while 60 are elected on reserved seats for women and religious minorities from all over the country. Members hold their seats for five years or until the house is dissolved by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. The house convenes at the Parliament House, Red Zone, Islamabad.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
The chief justice of Pakistan is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and is the highest-ranking officer of the Pakistani judiciary. The officeholder is the senior most of 17 justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The Parliament of Pakistan is the supreme legislative body of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is a bicameral federal legislature, composed of the President of Pakistan and two houses: the Senate and the National Assembly. The president, as head of the legislature, has the power to summon or prorogue either house of the Parliament. The president can dissolve the National Assembly, only on the Prime Minister's advice.
The National Security Council is a federal institutional and consultative body chaired by the Prime Minister of Pakistan as its chairman. The NSC is a principal forum that is mandated for considering national security and foreign policy matters with the senior national security advisers and Cabinet ministers. The idea and inception of National Security Council was first conceived in 1969 under the President Yahya Khan, its functions were to advise and assist the president and prime minister on national security and foreign policies.
The Government of Pakistan, constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, consisting of four provinces and one federal territory. The territories of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir are also part of the country but have separate systems and are not part of the federation.
The National Finance Commission Award or NFC is a series of planned economic programs in Pakistan enacted since 1951. Constituted under the Article 160 of the Constitution, the program was emerged to take control of financial imbalances and equally managed the financial resources to four provinces to meet their expenditure liabilities while alleviating the horizontal fiscal imbalances. As per Constitution, the program awards the designs of financial formulas of economic distribution to provincial and federal government for five consecutive years. All together, a total of seven awards has been reimbursed since its emergence in 1951, by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan. Stipulations and directions mentioned by the Constitution, the provisional governments and federal government competes to get higher share of the program's revenues in order to stabilize their own financial status.
The Cabinet of Pakistan is a formal body composed of senior government officials chosen and led by the Prime Minister. All cabinet members sworn in are designated Minister and are seated at their respective ministries located in the Pakistan Secretariat.
Arif-ur-Rehman Alvi is a Pakistani politician who served as the 13th President of Pakistan, in office from 9 September 2018 to 10 March 2024. He was a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from June 2013 to May 2018 and again from August to September 2018. Alvi was a dentist before entering politics in 1979, when he joined Jamaat-e-Islami (Pakistan), but resigned later on from the party and then joined former cricketer Imran Khan's party in 1996 and is amongst the founding members of PTI.
The Constitution of 1962 was the fundamental law of Republic of Pakistan from 8 June 1962 until martial law was declared in 25 March 1969. It was abrogated on 25 March 1969 by President Yahya Khan.
The Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Pakistan was passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan on April 8, 2010, removing the power of the President of Pakistan to dissolve the Parliament unilaterally, turning Pakistan from a semi-presidential to a parliamentary republic, and renaming North-West Frontier Province to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It also gave self-governing, legislative and financial autonomy to provincial authorities. The package was intended to counter the sweeping powers amassed by the presidency under former presidents General Pervez Musharraf and General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and to ease political instability in Pakistan. The bill reversed many infringements on the Constitution of Pakistan over several decades by its military rulers. The amendment bill was passed by the Senate of Pakistan on April 15, 2010 and it became an act of parliament when President Asif Ali Zardari signed the bill on April 19, 2010. It was the first time in Pakistan's history that a president relinquished a significant part of his powers willingly and transferred them to parliament and the office of the prime minister.
Asad Umar is a former Pakistani politician who had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from September 2013 till May 2018 and again from August 2018 to January 2023. He served as the Federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives, from 19 November 2019 to 10 April 2022.
Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman is a Pakistani politician who is the former Governor of Punjab, he served in office from 30 May 2022 till 10 May 2024.
A political and constitutional crisis emerged in Pakistan from, 3 April 2022 to 10 April 2022 when, National Assembly's Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri dismissed a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan during a session in which it was expected to be taken up for a vote, alleging that a foreign country's involvement in the regime change was contradictory to Article 5 of the Constitution of Pakistan. Moments later, Khan stated in a televised address that he had advised President Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly. Alvi complied with Khan's advice under Article 58 of the constitution. This resulted in the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) taking a suo motu notice of the ongoing situation, creating a constitutional crisis, as effectively, Imran Khan led a constitutional coup. Four days later, the SCP ruled that the dismissal of the no-confidence motion, the prorogation of the National Assembly, the advice from Imran Khan to President Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly, and the subsequent dissolution of the National Assembly were unconstitutional, and overturned these actions in a 5-0 vote. The Supreme Court further held that the National Assembly had not been prorogued and had to be reconvened by the speaker immediately and no later than 10:30 a.m. on 9 April 2022.
The Shehbaz Sharif government was formed on 10 April 2022, after Sharif was nominated as candidate for Prime Minister by opposition parties following a vote of no confidence in incumbent prime minister Imran Khan during the 2022–2023 Pakistan political unrest.
After the 2024 general elections in Pakistan, Shahbaz Sharif's second government was formed. Shehbaz Sharif from the Pakistan Muslim League-N was elected as the Prime Minister. President Asif Ali Zardari took the oath of office. The new Cabinet composition has been described as a "Lean", with its composition being influenced by the need of the new government to respond quickly to the current economic crisis. The Cabinet includes PML-N, MQM(P), PML(Q), IPP and independents.
The 2024–25 Pakistan Federal Budget is a financial statement of the government's estimated receipts and expenditures for the fiscal year that runs from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025.
References
- ↑ Kiani, Khaleeq (7 June 2023). "National Economic Council sets economic growth target at 3.5pc". DAWN.COM.
- ↑ Reporter, The Newspaper's Staff (8 June 2022). "President approves reconstitution of National Economic Council". DAWN.COM.
- ↑ "President okays reconstitution of National Economic Council". Tribune.com.pk. 7 June 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
- ↑ "President approves reconstitution of National Economic Council". 22 March 2023.
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