How long has pakistan been a federal republic

Twenty-Third Amendment - revives expired provisions of the Twenty-First Amendment with certain modifications Twenty-Fourth Amendment - modifies allocation of National Assembly seats among provinces based on the results of the census Orders Affecting the Constitution [] Follow this link for the Orders issued during the Martial Law regime of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq that affected the Consitution. Pervez Musharraf between and that affected the Constitution.

Pervez Musharraf during the Emergency from Nov 3rd, and December 15th that affected the Constitution. These Orders have since been subsequently deemed null and void by the Supreme Court. Ziauddin's article from Dawn October 10, on the requirements for the Bill to become part of the Constitution Twenty-fifth Amendment - Presented in National Assembly on January 26th, - to increase pension payments to widows of Supreme Court and High Court judges Twenty-sixth Amendment - Presented in National Assembly on March 8th, - to allow the Federal Government to delegate its powers to officers or authorities subordinate to it.

Twenty-seventh Amendment - Presented in National Assembly on March 8th, - to implement changes recommended by the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms.

Twenty-eighth Amendment - Presented in National Assembly on March 10th, - to re-enact expired provisions of the Twenty-first amendment. This amendment dramatically reduced the power of the president. It returned functions to Parliament and gave more autonomy to the provinces. The 18th Amendment was approved by the Senate on April 16, and became an act of parliament. The two self-governing administrative territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan form part of the disputed Kashmir region.

The local governance system of Pakistan consists of three tiers: districts, tehsils sub-districts , and union councils. 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 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 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. 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, 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 , a deadline set by the Supreme Court. In July of 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.

From The Encyclopedia of Asian History. Asia Society and Charles Scribner's Sons. Unsupported Browser Detected. Pakistan: A Political History. Overview When Pakistan became a country on August 14th, , to form the largest Muslim state in the world at that time. The Emergence of Pakistan The roots of Pakistan's multifaceted problems can be traced to March 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.

Power and Governance Both the military and the civil bureaucracy were affected by the disruptions wrought by partition. Turmoil Prime Minister Sharif was gaining disapproval on many fronts, for he was perceived to be power hungry and possibly corrupt. Additional Background Reading on Asia. Student Jerry Tian gives us his perspective.

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Visualize the World. Museum resources and educational resources that help students develop visual literacy and a better understanding of the world. Revelations from the Brush. A case for practicing calligraphy from one learner's perspective. The Three Teachings.

How Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism complement one another. Read on to learn about the "fourth teaching. Math, Science, and Technology in India. A tour de force essay written by Dr.

Roddham Narasimha. Indian Influences on Western Literature. Under the Constitution the National Assembly is elected for five years term, unless sooner dissolved. The seats in National Assembly, unlike the Senate, are allocated to each province and other units of the federation, on the basis of population. The Constitutional provision of 20 special seats for women lapsed in , thus decreased the Assembly strength from to Under the Constitution, elections to the 10 seats reserved for minority were held on separate electorate basis.

Despite the tenure of the Assembly being five years, as prescribed in the Constitution, Mr. Bhutto, on 7th January announced the holding of elections before time. Consequently, on 10th January , he advised the President to dissolve the National Assembly.

Elections were held on 7th March The opposition charged the government with rigging the elections to the National Assembly and thereafter boycotted the Provincial Assemblies elections. Since the opposition had not accepted the National Assembly elections result, they did not take oath. On 24th December , under Presidential Order P.

Its members were nominated by the President. The first session of this Council was held on 11th January In this way, limited and controlled political activities were resumed, as a result of which general elections were later held for the National and Provincial Assemblies on 25th February , on non-party basis.

On 2nd March , the revival of Constitution Order P. The first session of the National Assembly was held 20th March He received vote of confidence on 24th March In November , the 8th Constitutional Amendment was adopted by the Parliament. Besides changes in other Articles in the Constitution the significant Article 58 2 b was added, according to which the President acquired discretionary powers to dissolve the National Assembly.

On 29th May the Assembly was dissolved by the President by using the power acquired under Article 58 2 b. The General elections for the eighth National Assembly was held on 16th November The first session was convened by the President on 30th November The General elections for the ninth National Assembly was held on 24th October The first session was held on 3rd November The dissolution of the National Assembly was challenged in the Supreme Court of Pakistan and after hearing the case the Assembly was restored by the apex court on 26th May The Assembly was dissolved on the advice of the Prime Minister on 18th July The elections for tenth National Assembly was held on 6th October The first session was held on 15th October The elections for eleventh National Assembly was held on 3rd February The first session was held on 15th February The new Assembly came into power with an overwhelming majority.

The Article 58 2 b was later on omitted from the Constitution vide 13th Amendment in the Constitution in April It may be pertinent to note at this point that while, ostensibly, sixteen amendments have been made in the Constitution so far, the ninth and the eleventh Constitutional Amendments were, however, passed by the Senate alone and fifteenth by the National Assembly alone, hence these amendments lapsed.

The fourteenth Amendment in the Constitution empowered a check on floor crossing of legislators. The President Mr. Muhammad Rafiq Tarar was, however allowed to continue in his office.