Government of Pakistan

The Government of Pakistan (constitutionally known as the Federal Government and commonly the Centre) is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal parliamentary Islamic republic located in South Asia, consisting of four provinces and one federal territory. The territories of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir are also considered and administered as part of the country, but have separate systems and are not part of the federation.

Under the Constitution, there are three primary branches of a government: the legislative, whose powers are vested in a bicameral Parliament; the executive, consisting of the president, aided by the Cabinet which is headed by the prime minister; and the judiciary, with the Supreme Court.

Effecting the Westminster system for governing the state, the government is mainly composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, in which all powers are vested by the Constitution in the Parliament, the prime minister and the Supreme Court. The powers and duties of these branches are further defined by acts and amendments of the Parliament, including the creation of executive institutions, departments and courts inferior to the Supreme Court.

Federal law and Constitution

The Constitution of Pakistan established and constituted the federal government of four provinces of federation of nation-state, known as State of Pakistan. The Constitution reads as:

The basic civil and criminal laws governing the citizens of Pakistan are set down in major parliamentary legislation (a term inherited from the United Kingdom), such as the Exit Control List, the Pakistan Penal Code, and the now repealed Frontier Crimes Regulations. By the Article 246th and Article 247th to the constitution, the Islamic Jirga (or Panchayat) system has become an institution for local governance. The 1950s reforms in the government administration, the constitutional law and jurisprudence in Pakistan have been greatly influenced by the United States Of America ' legal system. Since the 1970s, the traditional jirga-based law has also been in place in a few areas, and has influenced the country's judicial development.

Branches of government

Legislative branch

The legislative branch, being a bicameral, has two houses, which combined are known as the Parliament of Pakistan (Urdu: مجلسِ شوریٰ پاکستان, English: Consultative Council of Pakistan:

The National Assembly, presided by Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, deputed by the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, is the lower house and has 336 members (according to new census and emerging of FATA) . 266 General members are elected directly by the people, while 60 seats are reserved for women and 10 seats for religious minorities.
The Senate, presided by Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan, deputed by Deputy Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan. is the upper house and has 96 senators elected indirectly by members of respective provincial assemblies for the term of six-year terms.

The Parliament enjoys parliamentary supremacy. All the Cabinet ministers as well as the Prime Minister must be members of Parliament (MPs), according to the constitution. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet Ministers are jointly accountable to the Parliament. If there is a policy failure or lapse on the part of the government, all the members of the cabinet are jointly responsible. If a vote of no confidence is passed against the government, then the government collapses and a new one must be formed.

Executive branch

By general definition, the executive branch of government is the one that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the republican idea of the separation of powers. The separation of powers system is designed to distribute authority away from the executive branch – an attempt to preserve individual liberty in response to tyrannical leadership throughout history.

Prime Minister and Cabinet

The Prime Minister of Pakistan (Urdu: ; lit: Wazir-e- Azam), is the executive head of government of Pakistan, constitutionally designated as the Chief Executive (CE). after the retirement of the Prime Minister, an interim (or Caretaker) Prime Minister is appointed by the President of Pakistan after consulting incumbent Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition of the national assembly.

The Prime Minister must be a Muslim citizen of Pakistan above 25 years of age. There have been 20 different Prime Ministers of Pakistan, with 24 different tenures, where only three people (Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, and Shehbaz Sharif) to become Prime Minister of Pakistan more than once. None of them complete their 5 years tenure. Pakistan also has had 4 Caretaker Prime Ministers.

The Prime Minister makes key appointments on various important positions, including;

The federal secretaries as head of cabinet- level ministries
The chief secretaries of the provinces
Key administrative and military personnel in the Pakistan Armed Forces
The chairmen of large public sector organisations and corporations such as NHA, TCP, PNSC, etc.
The chairmen and other members of the federal commissions and public institutions
Ambassadors and High Commissioners to other countries

The Cabinet can have a maximum of 11 percent (50 members including the Prime Minister) of the total strength of the Parliament.

Each Cabinet member must be a member of Parliament (MP). The Minister can be from the either house of the Parliament, but maximum 1/4th of the Ministers can be from the Senate. The Cabinet Ministers chair the Cabinet and are further assisted by the Cabinet Secretary of Pakistan, whose appointment comes from the Civil Services of Pakistan. Other Ministers are Ministers of State, junior members who report directly to one of the Cabinet Ministers, often overseeing a specific aspect of government.

The President of Pakistan, officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

The office of president was created upon the proclamation of Islamic Republic on 23 March 1956. The then serving governor-general, Major-General Iskander Mirza, assumed office as the first president. Following the 1958 coup d'etat, the office of prime minister was abolished, leaving the Presidency as the most powerful office in the country. This position was further strengthened when the 1962 Constitution was adopted. It turned Pakistan into a Presidential Republic, giving all executive powers to the president. In 1973, the new Constitution established Parliamentary democracy and reduced president's role to a ceremonial one. Nevertheless, the military takeover in 1977 reversed the changes. The 8th Amendment turned Pakistan into a semi-presidential republic and in the period between 1985 and 2010, the executive power was shared by president and prime minister. The 18th Amendment in 2010 restored Parliamentary Democracy in the country, and reduced presidency to a ceremonial position.

The constitution prohibits the president from directly running the government. Instead, the executive power is exercised on his behalf by the prime minister who keeps him informed on all matters of internal and foreign policy, as well as all legislative proposals. The Constitution however, vests the president with the powers of granting pardons, reprieves, and the control over the military; however, all appointments at higher commands of the military must be made by the President on a "required and necessary" basis, upon consultation and approval from the prime minister.

The president is indirectly elected by the Electoral College for a five-year term. The Constitution requires the president to be a "Muslim of not less than forty five (45) years of age". The president resides in an estate in Islamabad known as Aiwan-e-Sadar (President's House). In his absence, the chairman of Senate exercises the responsibilities of the post, until the actual president resumes office, or the next office holder is elected.

There have been a total of 13 presidents. The first president was Iskander Ali Mirza who entered office on 23 March 1956. The current office holder is Asif Ali Zardari, who took charge on 10 March 2024, following his victory in the 2023 elections.

Judicial branch

Pakistan's independent judicial system began under the British Raj, and its concepts and procedures resemble those of Anglo-Saxon countries. Institutional and judicial procedures were later changed, in 1950s, under the influence of American legal system to remove the fundamental rights problems.

Judicature transfer

The Constitution grants powers to the Supreme Court to make judicature transfers. Due to the importance of their respective assignments, there are twelve specific federal secretaries which are considered to be the most vital in the Government of Pakistan. These include the Secretary Establishment (responsible for civil service matters), Secretary Commerce (responsible for trade), Secretary Cabinet (responsible for Cabinet Division), Secretary to the Prime Minister (responsible for Prime Minister's Office), Secretary Interior (responsible for law and order), Secretary Finance (responsible for the country's treasury), Secretary Foreign Affairs (responsible for foreign relations), Secretary Maritime Affairs (responsible for ports and shipping), Secretary Power (responsible for the electricity and power sector), Secretary Planning and Development (responsible for development projects), Secretary Petroleum (responsible for the petroleum sector) and Secretary Industries (responsible for industrial development).

Management of major crisis situations in the country and coordination of activities of the various Ministries in such situations are the functions of the Cabinet Division. Appointment for the chairman of the FPSC, the prestigious body responsible for the recruitment of elite bureaucrats, is made by the President after consulting the Prime Minister, according to Article 242 of the Constitution.

Elections and voting system

Since 1947, Pakistan has an asymmetric federal government, with elected officials at the national (federal), provincial, tribal, and local levels. Constitution has set the limit of government for five years, but if a Vote of no confidence movements takes place in the parliament (and prelude of movements are proved at the Judicial branch), the government falls and immediately replaced with caretaker government initiated by the president (consultation of Prime Minister also required to make such move), in regards to Article 58 of the constitution.

There has been four times that the martial law has been in effect, and controversially approved by the supreme court. The Governors appointed by President after consulting the Prime minister, act only as representatives of federal government in the province and do not have any part in running the government.

The provincial governments tend to have the greatest influence over most Pakistanis' daily lives. The Local government functions at the basic level. It is the third level of government, consisting Jirga in rural tribal areas.

Finances

Taxation and budget

Pakistan has a complex taxation system of more than 70 unique taxes administered by at least 37 tax collection institutions of the Government of Pakistan. Taxation is a debated and controversial issue in public and political science circle of the country, and according to the International Development Committee, Pakistan had a lower-than-average tax take.

The Finance Minister of Pakistan presents the annual federal budget in the Parliament in the midst of the year, and it has to be passed by both houses of the Parliament. The budget is preceded by an economic survey which outlines the broad direction of the budget and the economic performance of the country for the outgoing financial fiscal year.

National Finance Commission program overview

Constituted under the Article 160 of the Constitution of Pakistan by the Constitution, the National Finance Commission Award (NFC) program is a series of planned economic programs to take control of financial imbalances and equally manage the financial resources for the four provinces to meet their expenditure liabilities while alleviating the horizontal fiscal imbalances.

According to stipulations and directions of the Constitution, the provisional governments and Federal government compete to get higher share of the program's revenues in order to stabilise their own financial status.

Ministries and divisions

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"

|+ Ministries of the Federal Government of Pakistan

! !! !!

| rowspan="5" |1

| rowspan="5" | Cabinet Secretariat ||

Aviation Division

||1947

|Cabinet Division

|Establishment Division

|National Security Division

|Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division

| Climate Change||Climate Change Division||

| Commerce || Commerce Division ||

| Communications || Communications Division

| 1947

|Defence|| Defence Division|| 1947

| Defence Production || Defence Production Division || 1972

|Economic Affairs

|Economic Affairs Division

| rowspan="2" |8

| rowspan="2" | Energy|| Petroleum Division ||

|Power Division

|Federal Education and Professional Training

|Federal Education and Professional Training Division

| rowspan="2" |10

| rowspan="2" | Finance, Revenue|| Finance Division ||

|Revenue Division

|11

|Foreign Affairs|| Foreign Affairs Division || 1947

|12

| Housing and Works || Housing and Works Division ||

|13

| Human Rights || Human Rights Division ||

|14

| Industries and Production || Industries and Production Division ||

| rowspan="2" |15

| rowspan="2" | Information and Broadcasting||Information and Broadcasting Division||

|National Heritage and Culture Division

|16

| Information Technology and Telecommunication|| Information Technology and Telecommunication Division||

|17

|Interior|| Interior Division||

|18

| Inter-Provincial Coordination || Inter-Provincial Coordination Division ||

|19

| Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan || Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Division ||

|20

| Law and Justice || Law and Justice Division ||

|21

| Maritime Affairs||Maritime Affairs Division||

|22

| Narcotics Control || Narcotics Control Division||

|23

| National Food Security and Research || National Food Security and Research Division ||

|24

| National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination || National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Division ||

|25

| Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development|| Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Division ||

|26

| Parliamentary Affairs || Parliamentary Affairs Division||

|27

| Planning, Development and Special Initiatives || Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Division ||

|28

| Privatisation || Privatisation Division||

|29

|Railways|| Railways Division||

|30

| Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony || Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony Division ||

|31

|Science and Technology || Science and Technology Division ||

|32

| States and Frontier Regions || States and Frontier Regions Division ||

|33

|Water Resources|| Water Resources Division||

Departments

Notes

References

External links

The President of Pakistan
Senate of Pakistan
Government Jobs of Pakistan
National Assembly of Pakistan
Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan
Supreme Court of Pakistan (archived 14 August 2013)
List of E-Services provided by Government of Pakistan (archived 18 November 2012)