Constitution & political system

From the Independence Act to Three Constitutions

Pakistan inherited its first legal order from the Indian Independence Act, 1947 and the Government of India Act, 1935 (as adapted), which served as the interim constitution until 1956. The Constituent Assembly's foundational act was the Objectives Resolution of 12 March 1949, moved by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, declaring that sovereignty belongs to Allah and is exercised by the people as a sacred trust. The Objectives Resolution became a substantive, enforceable provision of the constitution as Article 2A, inserted by President Zia-ul-Haq through the Revival of the Constitution Order (RCO), 1985 and confirmed by the Eighth Amendment.

The 1956 Constitution declared Pakistan an Islamic Republic, established a unicameral legislature and parliamentary government, and adopted the principle of parity between East and West Pakistan (One Unit, created 1955). It survived only until 7 October 1958, when President Iskander Mirza abrogated it and imposed martial law; General Ayub Khan deposed Mirza twenty days later.

The 1962 Constitution, promulgated by Ayub Khan, created a presidential system with an indirectly elected President chosen by 80,000 (later 120,000) Basic Democrats. It abolished the office of Prime Minister, concentrated power in the presidency, and was suspended after Ayub handed power to General Yahya Khan in March 1969. Yahya's Legal Framework Order, 1970 governed the first general election on adult franchise in December 1970, whose results—the Awami League sweeping East Pakistan—were not honoured, precipitating the secession of Bangladesh in December 1971.

The 1973 Constitution

The Constitution of 1973, framed under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and passed unanimously by the National Assembly on 10 April 1973, took effect on 14 August 1973. It is Pakistan's only constitution to command consensus across parties and provinces and remains in force today. Its core choices are decisive: a federal structure with four provinces; a parliamentary system in which the Prime Minister is the chief executive and the President a constitutional head (Article 48 binds the President to act on the Prime Minister's advice); a bicameral Parliament (Majlis-e-Shoora) comprising the National Assembly and an equal-representation Senate that safeguards provincial parity; and Islam as the state religion (Article 2), with the Council of Islamic Ideology (Article 228) and the Federal Shariat Court (added 1980) policing conformity with Islamic injunctions.

Fundamental Rights are guaranteed in Articles 8–28 and the Principles of Policy in Articles 29–40. The constitution can be amended under Article 238–239 by a two-thirds majority of each House. A candidate must memorise these structural anchors: 1956 (parliamentary, parity), 1962 (presidential), 1973 (federal parliamentary consensus document).

The Amendments That Reshaped the System

The 1973 Constitution's character has been repeatedly altered by amendment, and CSS examiners test these by number and effect.

• First Amendment (1974): recognised Bangladesh and redefined territorial boundaries.
• Second Amendment (1974): declared Ahmadis non-Muslims for constitutional purposes.
• Eighth Amendment (1985): the most consequential distortion, inserted Article 58(2)(b), empowering the President to dissolve the National Assembly at discretion. It was invoked four times (Junejo 1988, Benazir 1990, Nawaz 1993, Benazir 1996), making it the engine of 1990s instability. It also indemnified Zia's martial-law acts.
• Thirteenth Amendment (1997): under Nawaz Sharif, repealed Article 58(2)(b), restoring genuine parliamentary supremacy.
• Seventeenth Amendment (2003): revived 58(2)(b) and validated General Musharraf's Legal Framework Order, 2002, again tilting power to the presidency.
• Eighteenth Amendment (2010): a watershed. It abolished 58(2)(b) permanently, transferred the Concurrent Legislative List subjects to the provinces (devolution under the strengthened Article 142), renamed the North-West Frontier Province as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, entrenched the appointment of judges via a Judicial Commission and Parliamentary Committee, and curbed presidential power. It restored the constitution substantially to its 1973 parliamentary spirit.
• Nineteenth and Twenty-First Amendments: refined judicial appointments and (2015, sunset-clause) created military courts for terrorism cases after the Army Public School attack of 16 December 2014.
• Twenty-Fifth Amendment (2018): merged the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, ending the colonial Frontier Crimes Regulation regime.

The Judiciary and the Doctrine of Necessity

The superior judiciary—Supreme Court (Article 176), High Courts (Article 192), Federal Shariat Court—has alternately legitimised and resisted military rule. In State v. Dosso (1958) Justice Munir validated Ayub's coup using Kelsen's theory of revolutionary legality. In Asma Jilani v. Government of Punjab (1972) the Court repudiated Dosso and branded Yahya a usurper. Yet in Begum Nusrat Bhutto (1977) and Zafar Ali Shah (2000) it again invoked the doctrine of necessity to validate Zia's and Musharraf's takeovers. The detention of judges under Musharraf's 3 November 2007 emergency and the 2009 restoration of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry mark the rise of judicial assertiveness.

Why This Matters for the Exam

The constitution and political system are the spine of Paper-A of CSS Pakistan Affairs and recur in Political Science and Constitutional Law optionals. The Federal Public Service Commission has set direct questions repeatedly: 'Trace the constitutional development of Pakistan from 1947 to 1973' and 'Critically evaluate the salient features of the 1973 Constitution' are perennial. The Eighteenth Amendment has become the single highest-yield topic since 2010, examined as a standalone essay and as the fulcrum of federalism, provincial autonomy, and centre-province finance (via the National Finance Commission Award, Article 160) questions.

How It Is Tested

Expect three formats. First, chronological description: you must reproduce dates and authorities accurately—1949 Objectives Resolution, 1956/1962/1973 constitutions, 1958 and 1977 abrogations. Imprecision is penalised. Second, analytical evaluation: examiners reward candidates who can argue whether the 1973 Constitution is genuinely federal, or whether Article 58(2)(b) and the doctrine of necessity hollowed out parliamentary democracy. Third, contemporary linkage: questions increasingly ask you to connect constitutional provisions to live controversies—judicial appointments, the Practice and Procedure Act 2023 curtailing the Chief Justice's suo motu powers, or 18th-Amendment 'rollback' debates.

High-Yield Retention List

Memorise cold: Objectives Resolution = Article 2A; Fundamental Rights = Articles 8–28; President bound by advice = Article 48; bicameral Parliament with parity Senate; amendment threshold = two-thirds of both Houses (Article 239); 58(2)(b) inserted by 8th (1985), repealed by 13th (1997), revived by 17th (2003), abolished by 18th (2010). Pair every structural fact with one dated instance—this is what separates a 60+ script from an average one. Treat the four landmark cases (Dosso 1958, Asma Jilani 1972, Nusrat Bhutto 1977, Zafar Ali Shah 2000) as a single examinable set on civil-military relations.