Political history (1947 onward)

The Crisis of the Founding Decade (1947–1958)

Pakistan emerged on 14 August 1947 under the Indian Independence Act 1947, governed by the Government of India Act 1935 as adapted into an interim constitution. Two structural deficits defined the first decade: the absence of a permanent constitution and the early loss of charismatic leadership. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, as Governor-General, died on 11 September 1948; Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated at Rawalpindi on 16 October 1951. Their removal left a weak political class facing a strong civil-military bureaucracy.

Constitutional Paralysis and the 1954 Dissolution

The first Constituent Assembly, elected indirectly in 1947, took nine years to legislate. Its attempt to curb the Governor-General's powers provoked Ghulam Muhammad to dissolve the Assembly on 24 October 1954. The dissolution was challenged in Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan v. Federation of Pakistan (1955). The Sindh Chief Court ruled for Tamizuddin, but the Federal Court under Chief Justice Muhammad Munir reversed it on a technicality and, in the subsequent Reference No. 1 of 1955, validated the dissolution by invoking the common-law 'doctrine of necessity'—a doctrine that would haunt Pakistan's jurisprudence for decades.

The 1956 Constitution and the One Unit

The second Constituent Assembly produced the Constitution of 1956, enforced 23 March 1956, declaring the Islamic Republic of Pakistan with a parliamentary system and parity between the two wings under the One Unit scheme (West Pakistan merged into a single province on 14 October 1955 to offset East Bengal's numerical majority). The constitution never faced a general election. Persistent intrigue—four prime ministers between 1956 and 1958—culminated when President Iskander Mirza abrogated the constitution and imposed martial law on 7 October 1958, appointing General Ayub Khan Chief Martial Law Administrator. Within three weeks, on 27 October 1958, Ayub deposed Mirza and assumed the presidency.

The Ayub Era and 1962 Constitution

Ayub Khan institutionalised his rule through the Constitution of 1962, which created a presidential system and 'Basic Democracies'—an indirect electoral college of 80,000 (later 120,000) members. Ayub won the 1965 presidential contest against Fatima Jinnah amid allegations of manipulation. The 1965 war with India and the Tashkent Declaration of 10 January 1966 eroded his standing; the resignation of Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the rise of the Pakistan People's Party (founded 30 November 1967) channelled discontent. Facing mass agitation, Ayub handed power not to the National Assembly Speaker but to Army Commander-in-Chief General Yahya Khan on 25 March 1969—a second extra-constitutional rupture. Yahya issued the Legal Framework Order 1970 and dissolved the One Unit, restoring the four provinces of West Pakistan.

This founding-decade pattern—constitutional delay, bureaucratic dominance, judicial validation of executive overreach, and the army as ultimate arbiter—set the template that recurred across Pakistan's political history.

1971: Dismemberment and the Bhutto Interlude

The general election of December 1970, Pakistan's first on universal adult franchise, gave the Awami League under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 160 of 300 seats—an absolute majority concentrated entirely in East Pakistan—while Bhutto's PPP won 81 seats in the West. The refusal to convene the Assembly and transfer power, the launch of Operation Searchlight on 25–26 March 1971, and Indian military intervention culminated in the surrender at Dhaka on 16 December 1971 and the creation of Bangladesh. Yahya transferred power to Bhutto on 20 December 1971.

Bhutto's signal achievement was the unanimous Constitution of 1973, enforced 14 August 1973, restoring a parliamentary federation with a bicameral legislature and a National Finance Commission. He concluded the Simla Agreement (2 July 1972) with India and hosted the Lahore OIC Summit (February 1974). Yet his nationalisations, authoritarian style, and the disputed election of March 1977 triggered the Pakistan National Alliance movement.

Zia, Islamisation and Judicial Murder

General Zia-ul-Haq seized power on 5 July 1977 (Operation Fair Play), suspending the 1973 Constitution. The Supreme Court validated the coup in Begum Nusrat Bhutto v. Chief of Army Staff (1977), reviving the doctrine of necessity. Bhutto was hanged on 4 April 1979 after a contested murder conviction. Zia pursued Islamisation—the Hudood Ordinances 1979, the Federal Shariat Court, and Zakat and Ushr—and, via the Eighth Amendment (1985), inserted Article 58(2)(b), empowering the President to dissolve the National Assembly. Zia died in the Bahawalpur air crash of 17 August 1988.

The Lost Decade and Musharraf

Between 1988 and 1999, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif each served twice; every government was dismissed early—three under Article 58(2)(b) (1990, 1993, 1996) and Sharif's first by the army-backed President in 1993. Sharif's Thirteenth Amendment (1997) repealed 58(2)(b), but his clash with the army produced the coup of 12 October 1999 under General Pervez Musharraf, validated in Zafar Ali Shah v. Pervez Musharraf (2000). Musharraf's Seventeenth Amendment (2003) restored presidential dissolution powers; the Lawyers' Movement of 2007 against the sacking of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, and the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on 27 December 2007, hastened his exit in 2008. The 2008 election restored civilian rule, and the Eighteenth Amendment (2010) abolished 58(2)(b) and devolved powers to the provinces. The 2013 transition marked the first elected government to complete its term and hand over to another.

Why This Matters for the Exam

Political history is the analytical spine of the CSS Pakistan Affairs compulsory paper (FPSC scheme). Examiners do not reward narrative chronology alone; they reward candidates who can explain causation—why constitutional government repeatedly collapsed and how institutions, not personalities, structured those collapses. The dominant FPSC question type asks you to analyse a theme across regimes rather than describe a single event.

High-Yield Threads to Master

Four recurring PYQ threads must be retained with dates and authorities:

1. The doctrine of necessity. Trace it from Tamizuddin Khan (1955) through Nusrat Bhutto (1977) to Zafar Ali Shah (2000). A strong answer notes how the Supreme Court in Asma Jilani v. Government of Punjab (1972) briefly repudiated it before later revivals—a nuance that separates first-division scripts.

2. Civil-military imbalance. Every direct intervention—Ayub (1958), Yahya (1969), Zia (1977), Musharraf (1999)—followed civilian fragmentation. Argue the praetorian thesis: a weak political class invited the army's role as arbiter.

3. Constitutional engineering. Compare the 1956, 1962 and 1973 constitutions, and the role of Article 58(2)(b)—inserted by the Eighth Amendment (1985), repealed by the Thirteenth (1997), revived by the Seventeenth (2003), and finally abolished by the Eighteenth (2010).

4. The 1971 dismemberment. Treat it as the central failure: the unconvened majority of December 1970, denial of power to the eastern wing, and the lesson that federations cannot survive without genuine power-sharing.

How to Write the Answer

FPSC examiners reward a clear thesis statement, a thematic (not merely sequential) structure, precise citation of amendments and judgments, and a reasoned conclusion. Avoid hagiography of any leader. Marshal dates as evidence for an argument. Where a question invites prediction—on civil-military relations or democratic consolidation—anchor it in the 2008, 2013 and 2018 transitions and the post-Eighteenth-Amendment settlement. The candidate who frames Pakistan's political history as a contest between constitutionalism and the doctrine of necessity writes the strongest paper.