Government and politics

Government and politics

Main articles: Government of Pakistan, Politics of Pakistan, Political history of Pakistan, and Human rights in Pakistan

Parliament House

Pakistan is a democratic parliamentary federal republic with Islam as the state religion.^[138] The first set was adopted in 1956 but suspended by Ayub Khan in 1958 who replaced it with the second set in 1962. Complete and comprehensive Constitution was adopted in 1973—suspended by Zia-ul-Haq in 1977 but reinstated in 1985—is the country’s most important document, laying the foundations of the current government. The Pakistani military establishment has played an influential role in mainstream politics throughout Pakistan’s political history. There were military coups which resulted in imposition of martial law and military commanders continued governing as de-facto presidents from 1958–1971, 1977–1988, and 1999–2008. As of now, Pakistan has a multi-party parliamentary system with clear division of powers and responsibilities between branches of government. The first successful demonstrative transaction was held in May 2013. Politics in Pakistan is centered and dominated by the homegrown conceive social philosophy, consisting the ideas of socialism, conservatism, and the third way. As of the general elections held in 2013, the three main dominated political parties in the country: the centre-right conservative Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N); the centre-left socialist Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP); and the centrist and third-way Pakistan Movement for Justice (PTI) led by cricketer Imran Khan.

• Head of State: The President who is elected by an Electoral College is the ceremonial head of the state and is the civilian commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces (with Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee as its principal military adviser), but military appointments and key confirmations in the armed forces are made by the Prime Minister after reviewing the reports on their merit and performances. Almost all appointed officers in the judicature, military, chairman joint chiefs and joint staff, and legislatures require the executive confirmation from the Prime Minister, whom the President must consult, by law. However, the powers to pardon and grant clemency vest with the President of Pakistan.
• Legislative: The bicameral legislature comprises a 100-member Senate (upper house) and a 342-member National Assembly (lower house). Members of the National Assembly are elected through the first-past-the-post system under universal adult suffrage, representing electoral districts known as National Assembly constituencies. According to the constitution, the 70 seats reserved for women and religious minorities are allocated to the political parties according to their proportional representation. Senate members are elected by provincial legislators, with all of provinces have equal representation.

Prime Minister’s Secretariat

• Executive: The Prime Minister is usually the leader of the majority rule party or a coalition in the National Assembly— the lower house. The Prime Minister serves as the head of government and is designated to exercise as the country’s chief executive. The Prime Minister is responsible for appointing a cabinet consisting of ministers and advisers as well as running the government operations, taking and authorizing executive decisions, appointments and recommendations that require executive confirmation of the Prime Minister.
• Provincial governments: Each of the four province has a similar system of government, with a directly elected Provincial Assembly in which the leader of the largest party or coalition is elected Chief Minister. Chief Ministers oversees the provincial governments and head the provincial cabinet, it is common in Pakistan to have different ruling parties or coalitions in each provinces. The provincial assemblies have power to make laws and approve provincial budget which is commonly presented by the provincial finance minister every fiscal year. Provincial governors who play role as the ceremonial head of province are appointed by the President.

Supreme Court of Pakistan

• Judicature: The judiciary of Pakistan is a hierarchical system with two classes of courts: the superior (or higher) judiciary and the subordinate (or lower) judiciary. The Chief Justice of Pakistan is the chief judge who oversees the judicature’s court system at all levels of command. The superior judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Federal Shariat Court and five High Courts, with the Supreme Court at the apex. The Constitution of Pakistan entrusts the superior judiciary with the obligation to preserve, protect and defend the constitution. Neither the Supreme Court nor a High Court may exercise jurisdiction in relation to Tribal Areas, except otherwise provided for. The disputed regions of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan have separate court systems.

Foreign relations of Pakistan

Main article: Foreign relations of Pakistan

Ayub Khan (President of Pakistan) with US President John F. Kennedy in 1961. U.S-Pak relations during the cold war

As the Muslim world’s second most populous nation-state (after Indonesia) and its only nuclear power state, Pakistan has an important role in the international community. With a semi-agricultural and semi-industrialized economy, its foreign policy determines its standard of interactions for its organizations, corporations and individual citizens.^[143][144] Its geostrategic intentions were explained by Jinnah in a broadcast message in 1947, which is featured in a prominent quotation on the homepage of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs website: “The foundation of our foreign policy is friendship with all nations across the globe.”

Since then, Pakistan has attempted to balance its relations with foreign nations. A non-signatory party of the Treaty on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Pakistan is an influential member of the IAEA. In recent events, Pakistan has blocked an international treaty to limit fissile material, arguing that the “treaty would target Pakistan specifically.” In the 20th century, Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence program focused on countering India’s nuclear ambitions in the region, and nuclear tests by India eventually led Pakistan to reciprocate the event to maintain geopolitical balance as becoming a nuclear power. Currently, Pakistan maintains a policy of credible minimum deterrence, calling its program vital nuclear deterrence against foreign aggression.

Located in strategic and geopolitical corridor of the world’s major maritime oil supply lines, communication fiber optics, Pakistan has proximity to the natural resources of Central Asian countries. Pakistan is an influential and founding member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and is a major non-NATO ally of the United States in the war against terrorism— a status achieved in 2004. Pakistan’s foreign policy and geostrategy mainly focus on economy and security against threats to its national identity and territorial integrity, and on the cultivation of close relations with other Muslim countries. Briefing on country’s foreign policy in 2004, the Pakistani senator reportedly explains: “Pakistan highlights sovereign equality of states, bilateralism, mutuality of interests, and non-interference in each other’s domestic affairs as the cardinal features of its foreign policy.” Pakistan is an active member of the United Nations and has a Permanent Representative to represent Pakistan’s policy in international politics. Pakistan has lobbied for the concept of “Enlightened Moderation” in the Muslim world. Pakistan is also a member of Commonwealth of Nations, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) and the G20 developing nations. Pakistan does not have diplomatic relations with Israel; nonetheless some Israeli citizens have visited the country on a tourist visas. Based on mutual cooperation, the security exchange have taken place between two countries using Turkey as a communication conduit. Despite Pakistan being the only country in the world that has not established a diplomatic relations with Armenia, the Armenian community still resides in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s incumbent Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

Maintaining cultural, political, social, and economic relations with the Arab world and other countries in the Muslim World is a vital factor in Pakistan’s foreign policy. Pakistan was the first country to have established diplomatic relations with China and relations continues to be warm since China’s war with India in 1962. In the 1960s–1980s, Pakistan greatly helped China in reaching out to the world’s major countries and helped facilitate U.S. President Nixon’s state visit to China. Despite the change of governments in Pakistan, variations in the regional and global situation, China policy in Pakistan continues to be dominant factor at all time. In return, China is Pakistan’s largest trading partner and economic cooperation have reached high points, with substantial Chinese investment in Pakistan’s infrastructural expansion including the Pakistani deep-water port at Gwadar. Sino-Pak friendly relations touched new heights as both the countries signed 51 agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) in 2015 for cooperation in different fields. Both countries have signed the Free Trade Agreement in the 2000s, and Pakistan continues to serve as China’s communication bridge in the Muslim World.

Pakistan PM Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai signing the Treaty of Friendship Between China and Pakistan. Pakistan, today, hosts China’s largest embassy.

Because of difficulties in relations with its geopolitical rival India, Pakistan maintains close political relations with Turkey and Iran. Saudi Arabia also maintains a respected position in Pakistan’s foreign policy, and both countries has been a focal point in Pakistan’s foreign policy. The Kashmir conflict remains the major point of rift; three of their four wars were over this territory. Due to ideological differences, Pakistan opposed the Soviet Union in the 1950s and during Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s, Pakistan was one of the closest allies of the United States.Relations with Russia have greatly improved since 1999 and cooperation with various sectors have increased between Russia and Pakistan. Pakistan has had “on-and-off” relations with the United States. A close ally of the United States in the Cold war, Pakistan’s relation with the United States relations soured in the 1990s when the U.S. imposed sanctions because of Pakistan’s secretive nuclear development. Since 9/11, Pakistan has been a close ally with the United States on the issue of counter-terrorism in the regions of the Middle East and South Asia, with the US supporting the latter with aid money and weapons.

The United States-led war on terrorism led initially to an improvement in the relationship, but it was strained by a divergence of interests and resulting mistrust during the war in Afghanistan and by issues related to terrorism. Since 1948, there has been an ongoing, and at times fluctuating, violent conflict in the southwestern province of Balochistan between various Baloch separatist groups, who seek greater political autonomy, and the central government of Pakistan.

In 2016 the official press agency of the People’s Republic of China announced that the state will set up an anti-terrorism alliance with Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.

Administrative divisions

Main articles: Administrative units of Pakistan and Districts of Pakistan

A federal parliamentary republic state, Pakistan is a federation that comprises four provinces: Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan.^[190] and four territories: the Tribal belt, Gilgit–Baltistan, Islamabad Capital Territory, and Kashmir. The Government of Pakistan exercises the de facto jurisdiction over the Frontier Regions and the western parts of the Kashmir Regions, which are organised into the separate political entities Azad Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan (formerly Northern Areas). In 2009, the constitutional assignment (the Gilgit–Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order) awarded the Gilgit–Baltistan a semi-provincial status, giving it self-government.

The local government system consists of a three-tier system of districts, tehsils and union councils, with an elected body at each tier. There are about 130 districts altogether, of which Azad Kashmir has ten and Gilgit–Baltistan seven. The Tribal Areas comprise seven tribal agencies and six small frontier regions detached from neighbouring districts.

Clickable map of the four provinces and four federal territories of Pakistan.

Law enforcement is carried out by a joint network of the intelligence community with jurisdiction limited to the relevant province or territory. The National Intelligence Directorate coordinates the information intelligence at both federal and provincial level; including the FIA, IB, Motorway Police, and paramilitary forces such as the Pakistan Rangers and the Frontier Corps.

Pakistan’s “premier” intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligene (ISI), was formed just within a year after the Independence of Pakistan in 1947. Inter Service Intelligence Agency of Pakistan was ranked as the top intelligence agency in the world in 2011, 2014 and 2015.

The court system is organised as a hierarchy, with the Supreme Court at the apex, below which are High Courts, Federal Shariat Courts (one in each province and one in the federal capital), District Courts (one in each district), Judicial Magistrate Courts (in every town and city), Executive Magistrate Courts and civil courts. The Penal code has limited jurisdiction in the Tribal Areas, where law is largely derived from tribal customs.

Military

Main article: Pakistan Armed Forces

Pakistan Air Force’s JF-17 Thunder flying in front of Nanga Parbat.

The armed forces of Pakistan are the eighth largest in the world in terms of numbers in full-time service, with about 617,000 personnel on active duty and 513,000 reservists, as of tentative estimates in 2010. They came into existence after independence in 1947, and the military establishment has frequently influenced in the national politics ever since. Chain of command of the military is kept under the control of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee; all of the branches joint works, coordination, military logistics, and joint missions are under the Joint Staff HQ. The Joint Staff HQ is composed of the Air HQ, Navy HQ, and Army GHQ in the vicinity of the Rawalpindi Military District.

The Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee is the highest principle staff officer in the armed forces, and the chief military adviser to the civilian government though the chairman has no authority over the three branches of armed forces. The Chairman joint chiefs controls the military from the JS HQ and maintains strategic communications between the military and the civilian government. As of current, the Chairman joint chiefs is General Rashid Mahmood alongside chief of army staff General Raheel Sharif, chief of naval staff Admiral Muhammad Zaka, and chief of air staff Air Chief Marshal Suhail Aman. The main branches are the Army–Air Force–Navy–Marines, which are supported by the number of paramilitary forces in the country.^[207] Control over the strategic arsenals, deployment, employment, development, military computers and command and control is a responsibility vested under the National Command Authority which oversaw the work on the nuclear policy as part of the credible minimum deterrence.^[124]

The United States, Turkey, and China maintain close military relations and regularly export military equipment and technology transfer to Pakistan. Joint logistics and major war games are occasionally carried out by the militaries of China and Turkey. Philosophical basis for the military draft is introduced by the Constitution in times of emergency, but it has never been imposed. Since 1947, Pakistan has been involved in four conventional wars, the first war occurred in Kashmir with Pakistan gaining control of Western Kashmir, (Azad Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan), and India capturing Eastern Kashmir (Jammu and Kashmir). Territorial problems eventually led to another conventional war in 1965; over the issue of Bengali refugees that led to another war in 1971 which resulted in Pakistan’s unconditional surrender of East Pakistan. Tensions in Kargil brought the two countries at the brink of war. Since 1947, the unresolved territorial problems with Afghanistan saw border skirmishes which was kept mostly at the mountainous border. In 1961, the military and intelligence community repelled the Afghan incursion in the Bajaur Agency near the Durand Line border. Rising tensions with neighboring USSR in their involvement in Afghanistan, Pakistani intelligence community, mostly the ISI, systematically coordinated the U.S. resources to the Afghan mujahideen and foreign fighters against the Soviet Union’s presence in the region. Military reports indicated that the PAF was in engagement with the Soviet Air Force, supported by the Afghan Air Force during the course of the conflict; one of which belonged to Alexander Rutskoy. Apart from its own conflicts, Pakistan has been an active participant in United Nations peacekeeping missions. It played a major role in rescuing trapped American soldiers from Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993 in Operation Gothic Serpent. According to UN reports, the Pakistani military are the third largest troop contributors to UN peacekeeping missions after Ethiopia and India.

Pakistan sent UN Peacekeeping forces to the former Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav wars. During the war, Pakistan supported Bosnia while providing technical and military support. Approximately 90,000 Pakistani people went to Bosnia during the Yugoslav wars, accounting for 20% of the volunteer military force. The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) allegedly ran an active military intelligence program during the Bosnian War which started in 1992 lasting until 1995. Allegedly executed and supervised by General Javed Nasir, the program distributed and coordinated the systematic supply of arms to various groups of Bosnian mujahideen during the war. The ISI Bosnian contingent was organized with financial assistance provided by Saudi Arabia, according to the British historian Mark Curtis. Despite the UN arms embargo in Bosnia, Nasir later confessed that the ISI airlifted anti-tank weapons and missiles to Bosnian mujahideen which turned the tide in favor of Bosnian Muslims and forced the Serbs to lift the siege.

Pakistan has deployed its military in some Arab countries, providing defence, training, and playing advisory roles. The PAF and Navy’s fighter pilots have voluntarily served in Arab nations’ militaries against Israel in the Six-Day War (1967) and in the Yom Kippur War (1973). Pakistan’s fighter pilots shot down ten Israeli planes in the Six-Day War. In the 1973 war one of the PAF pilots, Flt. Lt. Sattar Alvi flying a MiG-21 shot down an Israeli Air Force Mirage and was honoured by the Syrian government. Requested by the Saudi monarchy in 1979, the special forces units, operatives, and commandos were rushed to assist Saudi forces in Mecca to lead the operation of the Grand Mosque. In 1991 Pakistan got involved with the Gulf War and sent 5,000 troops as part of a US-led coalition, specifically for the defence of Saudi Arabia.

Since 2004, the military has been engaged in a war in North-West Pakistan, mainly against the homegrown Taliban factions. Major operations undertaken by the Army include Operation Black Thunderstorm and Operation Rah-e-Nijat.

Kashmir conflict

Main article: Kashmir conflict

The Kashmir– the most northwesterly region of South Asia– is a primary territorial dispute that hindered the relations between India and Pakistan. Two nations have fought at least three large-scale conventional wars in successive years of 1947, 1965, and 1971. The conflict in 1971 witnessed Pakistan’s unconditional surrender and a treaty that subsequently led to the independence of Bangladesh. Other serious military engagements and skirmishes included the armed contacts in Siachen Glacier (1984) and Kargil (1999). Approximately 45.1% of the Kashmir region is controlled by India while claiming the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, including most of Jammu, the Kashmir Valley, Ladakh, and the Siachen. The claim is contested by Pakistan, which approximately controls the 38.2% of the Kashmir region, known as the Azad Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan.

Azad Kashmir is part of Pakistan controlled Kashmir.

India claims the Kashmir on the basis of the Instrument of Accession— a legal agreement with Kashmir’s leaders executed by Maharaja Hari Singh who agreed to accede the area to India. Pakistan claims Kashmir on the basis of a Muslim majority and of geography, the same principles that were applied for the creation of the two independent states. India referred the dispute to the United Nations on 1 January 1948. A resolution passed in 1948, the UN’s General Assembly asked Pakistan to remove most of its troops as a plebiscite would then be held. However, Pakistan failed to vacate the region and a ceasefire was reached in 1949 with the Line of Control (LoC) was established, dividing Kashmir between the two nations. India, fearful that the Muslim majority populace of Kashmir would secede from India, did not allow a plebiscite to take place in the region. This was confirmed in a statement by India’s Defense Minister, Kirshnan Menon, who said: “Kashmir would vote to join Pakistan and no Indian Government responsible for agreeing to plebiscite would survive.”

Pakistan claims that its position is for the right of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to determine their future through impartial elections as mandated by the United Nations, while India has stated that Kashmir is an integral part of India, referring to the Simla Agreement (1972) and to the fact that elections take place regularly. In recent developments, certain Kashmiri independence groups believe that Kashmir should be independent of both India and Pakistan.

Law enforcement

Main articles: Law enforcement in Pakistan, Pakistan Intelligence Community, and National Intelligence Directorate

The law enforcement in Pakistan is carried out by joint network of several federal and provincial police agencies. The four provinces and the Islamabad Capital Territory each have a civilian police force with jurisdiction extending only to the relevant province or territory. At the federal level, there are a number of civilian intelligence agencies with nationwide jurisdictions including the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB), and the Motoway Patrol, as well as several paramilitary forces such as the National Guards (Northern Areas), the Rangers (Punjab and Sindh), and the Frontier Corps (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan).

The most senior officers of all the civilian police forces also form part of the Police Service, which is a component of the civil service of Pakistan. Namely, there are four provincial police service including the Punjab Police, Sindh Police, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Police, and the Balochistan Police; all headed by the appointed senior Inspector-Generals. The Islamabad has its own police component, the Capital Police, to maintain law and order in the capital. The CID bureaus are the crime investigation unit and forms a vital part in each provincial police service.

The law enforcement in Pakistan also has a Motorway Patrol which is responsible for enforcement of traffic and safety laws, security and recovery on Pakistan’s inter-provincial motorway network. In each of provincial Police Service, it also maintains a respective Elite Police units led by the NACTA– a counter-terrorism police unit as well as providing VIP escorts. In Punjab and Sindh, the Pakistan Rangers are an internal security force with the prime objective to provide and maintain security in war zones and areas of conflict as well as maintaining law and order which includes providing assistance to the police. The Frontier Corps serves the similar purpose in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and the Balochistan.