Politics in Pakistan refers to the ideologies and systems by whichPakistan wasestablished in 1947.[1] As envisaged by the nation's founding father,Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan is anation-state, constitutionally a democraticparliamentary republic.[2] Thenational cabinet, led by thePrime Minister of Pakistan has executive power and thepresident is thehead of state elected by the electoral college.[3] Pakistan'spolitical system is based on an elected form ofgovernance.[4] The democratic elections held in 2008 were the first to conclude a 5-year term in the nation's political history. However, since the country's inception, the military has had disproportionate power over state affairs.[5] Several military interventions have disrupted Pakistan's democracy. These interventions include takeovers byGeneral Ayub Khan (1958-1969),General Yahya Khan (1969-1971), GeneralZia Ul Haq (1977-1988), andGeneral Pervez Musharraf (1999-2008).[5]
In the wake of intensifying political instability, the civilian bureaucracy and military assumed governing power in 1958. Since its independence, Pakistan's political system has fluctuated between civilian and military governments at various times throughout itspolitical history, mainly due to political instability, civil-military conflicts, politicalcorruption, and theperiodic coup d'états by the military establishment against weak civilian governments, resulting in the enforcement ofmartial law across the country (occurring in1958,1977 and1999, and led bychief martial law administrator-generalsAyub Khan,Zia-ul-Haq andPervez Musharraf respectively).[6] Democracy in Pakistan, however imperfect, has been allowed to function to varying degrees.
The2024 Pakistani general election while deeply flawed and with claimed electoral irregularities demonstrates a "continuity of an electoral process that has historically been subject to political engineering".[7]
Until 2013, Pakistan did not experience a democratic transfer of power from one democratically elected government that had completed its tenure to another. All of its previous democratic transitions have been aborted by military coups.[8] In 2024 Pakistan wasautocratizing according toV-Dem Democracy indices.[9]
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