Reports to President | Seat Islamabad | |
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Member of CabinetCommon Interests CouncilNational Assembly Residence Prime Minister's Secretariat Appointer ECP:by a Convention that is held in the National Assembly, based on appointee's ability to command confidence among the majority of the members. | ||
The Prime Minister of Pakistan (Urdu: وَزِیرِ اَعظَم — Wazīr-ē Aʿẓam, [ʋəˈziːr-ˌeː ˈɑː.zəm]; lit. "Grand Vizier"), is the head of government of Pakistan and designated as the "chief executive of the Republic". The Prime Minister leads the executive branch of the government, oversees the economic growth, heads the Council of Common Interests as well as the Cabinet, and is vested with the command authority over the nuclear arsenals.
Contents
- Constitutional law
- Role and powers of the Prime minister
- Eligibility
- Selection and removal
- Oath of office
- Chronological list of Prime Ministers with tenure
- History
- References
This position places its holder in leadership of the nation and in control over all matters of internal and foreign policy. The incumbent Prime Minister is Nawaz Sharif–a presiding figure of the conservative Pakistan Muslim League (N). The Prime Minister is elected by the members of the National Assembly and therefore is usually the leader of the majority party in the parliament. The Constitution of Pakistan vests the executive powers in the Prime Minister who is responsible for appointing the Cabinet as well as running the executive branch, taking and authorising executive decisions, appointments and recommendations that require executive confirmation of the Prime Minister.
Constitutionally, the Prime Minister serves as the chief adviser to President of Pakistan on critical matters and plays an influential role in appointment in each branch and the military leadership as well as ensuring the control of the military through chairman joint chiefs. Powers of the Prime Minister have significantly grown with a delicate system of the check and balance by each branch. The position was absent during years of 1960–73 and 1977-85 due to imposed martial law. In each of these periods, the military junta led by the President had the powers of the Prime Minister.
Constitutional law
The Constitution envisages a scheme of affairs in which the President of Pakistan is the head of state who represents the "unity of the Republic." The system of government in Pakistan is based on codified constitution which sees the Prime Minister as "chief executive of the Republic."
Subject to the Constitution, the executive authority of the Federation shall be exercised in the name of the President by the Federal Government, consisting of the Prime Minister and the Federal Ministers, which shall act through the Prime Minister, who shall be the chief executive of the Federation."
In addition, the Prime Minister is also the chairman of the Council of Common Interests as set by:
(1) There shall be a Council of Common Interests, in this Chapter referred to as the Council, to be appointed by the President
(2) The Council shall consist of-
(a) the Prime Minister who shall be the Chairman of the Council;
(b) the Chief Ministers of the Provinces;
As in most of the parliamentary democracies, a head of state's duties are mostly ceremonial. The Prime Minister of Pakistan is the head of government and has the responsibility for executive power. With Pakistan following a parliamentary system of government, the Prime minister is generally the leader of a party (or coalition of parties) that has a majority in the National Assembly —the lower house of the Parliament of Pakistan. The Prime minister, in common with all other ministers, either has to be a current member of National Assembly, or be elected within six months of being appointed.
Role and powers of the Prime minister
The official residence and principal workplace of the Prime Minister is the Prime Minister's Secretariat— the cabinet secretariat located in the northeast Islamabad. The Prime Minister is the Chief Executive who heads and exercise authority of the Government of Pakistan. After gaining the vote of confidence, the Prime Minister is invited by the President to take oath and form the government. In practice, the Prime Minister nominates to form the Cabinet as in-charge of the important functions and ministries of the Government of Pakistan. In addition, the Prime Minister thoroughly communicates with the President all decisions of the Cabinet relating to the administration of the affairs of the state and proposals for legislation.
The Prime Minister, in consultation with the Cabinet, schedules and attends the sessions of the Parliament and is required to answer the question from the Members of Parliament to them as the in-charge of the portfolios in the capacity as Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Some specific ministries/department are not allocated to anyone in the cabinet but the prime minister himself. The prime minister is usually always in-charge/Chairman of:
The Prime minister is vested with the command authority over the nuclear arsenals and represents the country in various delegations, high level meetings and international organisations that require the attendance of the highest government office and also addresses to the nation on various issues of national or other importance.
Eligibility
The Constitution of Pakistan requires that the Prime Minister be a Muslim member of the National Assembly. In addition to these requirements to be a member of the National Assembly one must be:
Selection and removal
The candidates for the prime minister are members of the National Assembly or Senate who were chosen by directly elections through popular vote and landslide victory that are campaigned on the party platforms. Usually, the leader of the majority party in the parliament retains the office of prime minister who forms the government either by coalition or by simple majority. The candidate must retain the vote of confidence be the members of the parliament before being invited by the President to form the government.
The Prime Minister can be removed before the expiry of the term through the vote of no confidence in the parliament. If the vote of no confidence is passed by the National Assembly by not less than 20%; the Prime Minister is ceases to retain the office. In the past events, the Prime ministers (and their governments) have been dismissed by President by exercising the VIII Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan (1985) but it has been repealed by XVIII Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan (2010). In addition, the Prime Minister himself has absolute constitutional immunity from criminal and civil proceedings, and no proceedings can be initiated or continued against him during the term of his office.
In 2012, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has ceased at least one Prime Minister from retaining the office due to contempt of court after retroactively disqualifying the membership of the parliament permanently.
Oath of office
The prime minister is elected by the National Assembly. The National Assembly meets on the twenty-first day after a general election (at least every five years) unless the President calls for a vote of no confidence. Whichever member of the National assembly is chosen serves as the Prime Minister until the next election or until he fails to maintain the confidence of the National Assembly.
The Prime Minister is required to make and subscribe in the presence of the President— an oath or affirmation that the prime minister shall protect, preserve and defend the Constitution as follows:
Chronological list of Prime Ministers with tenure
History
The office was created on immediate effect after the partition and the establishment of Pakistan in 1947; the Prime Minister existed alongside the Governor-General who was the representative of English Monarchy. The first Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, exercised central executive powers until his assassination in 1951. However, the powers slowly began to reduced as a result of constant intervention by the Governor-General. Despite the first set of the Constitution giving central power in 1956, the next six prime ministers were dismissed by the Governor-General from 1951 till 1957. In addition, the first set of the Constitution had evolved the Governor-General into the President of Pakistan whilst declaring the country as "Islamic republic". In 1958, President Iskandar Mirza dismissed the seventh prime minister to impose martial law in a mere two weeks, President Mirza was ousted by army chief General Ayub Khan who had for a brief period held the post of Prime Minister.
In 1962, the second set of the Constitution completely dissolved the office of prime minister as all powers were transferred to the President of Pakistan. Criticism over presidency after the presidential election held in 1965 over the centralizing of powers. After the general elections held in 1970, the office was established with Nurul Amin becoming the Prime Minister who was also the Vice-President. Negotiations that fall apart between Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Mujibur Rehman, and Yahya Khan that prompted to liberation movement in the East Pakistan. With India intervening in East Pakistan and Pakistan conceding defeat to end the war led to the collapse of the presidential system in 1971.
As the comprehensive Constitution reinstated in 1973, the post was reestablished with more central powers as the constitution provided a parliamentary system with President of Pakistan as figurehead. Amid agitation instigated by the right-wing alliance invited the military intervention in 1977 which suspended the post.
The general elections held in 1985 allowed the post to be returned with Muhammad Junejo becoming the Prime Minister. Later that year the National Assembly passed the controversial eighth amendment to the Constitution, giving the President the power to dismiss the Prime Minister and the National Assembly without prior consultation. The general elections in 1988 resulted in PPP's Benazir Bhutto becoming the first women Prime Minister elected in a Muslim country. From 1988–93, the power struggle between the Prime Minister and Presidency continued with President dismissing the National Assembly in three different occasions. In 1997 elections, the PML(N) secured two-thirds in the Parliament and drafted the XIII and XIV Amendment to reverse the eighth amendment to the Constitution; this allowed Nawaz Sharif centralizing the more executive powers. After the draw down of the civil-military relations in 1999, Chairman joint chiefs General Pervez Musharraf staged a coup d'état against PML(N)'s government and held nationwide elections in 2002. With no party gaining majority, a coalition was formed with PML(Q)– a breakaway of PML(N) and pro-Musharraf party– leading with MQM. After a political wrangling, Zafarullah Jamali became the Prime Minister who passed the XVII amendment which partially restoring the power of the President to dissolve the National Assembly, but making the dissolution subject to Supreme Court of Pakistan's approval. Over the authority issues, Prime Minister Jamali resigned in 2004 and Shaukat Aziz was eventually appointed as Prime Minister who secured 151 out of 191 votes in the National Assembly. The XVII amendment featured a semi-presidential system allowing the presidency to keep the interference executive and the judiciary. The general elections in 2008 resulted in PPP coming to power and supported the movement to oust Pervez Musharraf. A populist intellectual movement leading to depart Pervez Musharraf] allowed Asif Zardari to become the President. In 2010, the XVIII Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan was passed to reverse the XVII amendment; it turned back the country to parliamentary democratic republic. In addition, the XVIII Amendment removed all powers of the presidency to dissolve the Parliament unilaterally and sweep away the powers amassed by the former presidents Pervez Musharraf] and Zia-ul-Haq to maintain delicate check and balance.
Over the Contempt of court, the Supreme Court permanently disqualified Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani. Originally, the PPP nomination was Makhdoom Shahbuddin, but was forced to withdraw after ANF issued non-bailable arrest warrants against Shahbuddin. Raja Pervaiz Ashraf became the Prime Minister who remained until 2013. The general election held in 2013 saw the PML(N) achieved almost supermajority, following which Nawaz Sharif became elected as the Prime Minister, returning to the post for the third time after fourteen years, in a democratic transition.