Pakistan Affairs MCQs – Page 20 (Q191-200)

Iskander Mirza served as the last Governor-General and first President, becoming Governor-General in 1955, succeeding Malik Ghulam Muhammad after ill health forced the latter from office. Mirza transitioned to become Pakistan's first President when the country's first constitution was adopted on 23 March 1956, replacing the office of Governor-General entirely. His presidency proved short and turbulent, ending when he declared Pakistan's first martial law in October 1958, only to be removed from power himself within weeks by General Ayub Khan, who exiled him and assumed the presidency. Mirza spent his remaining years in exile in Britain and died in 1969, never returning to Pakistan.

Khawaja Nazimuddin succeeded Liaquat Ali Khan as Prime Minister of Pakistan following his assassination in October 1951, moving from his earlier post as the country's second Governor-General to take on the premiership. His government was dismissed in 1953 by Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad amid political and religious unrest, including anti-Ahmadiyya riots in Punjab that the administration was accused of mishandling. Nazimuddin was succeeded as Prime Minister by Muhammad Ali Bogra, while Ghulam Muhammad himself had taken over as Governor-General following Nazimuddin's earlier move to the premiership. His dismissal marked one of the earliest instances of a civilian government being removed through the Governor-General's discretionary powers, setting a troubling precedent for Pakistan's political history.

Muhammad Ali Bogra served as Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1953 to 1955, appointed by Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad after the dismissal of Khawaja Nazimuddin's government, while previously serving as Pakistan's ambassador to the United States. His tenure was marked by continued tension with the Governor-General's office, culminating in the controversial dissolution of the first Constituent Assembly in October 1954, an action Bogra was largely powerless to prevent. He briefly proposed a new constitutional formula, the Bogra Formula, aiming to balance representation between East and West Pakistan, though it was never implemented. He was succeeded as Prime Minister by Chaudhry Muhammad Ali in 1955, amid the formation of the second Constituent Assembly that same year.

Chaudhry Muhammad Ali served as Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1955 to 1956, playing a key role in finally steering the long-delayed drafting of Pakistan's first constitution to completion, promulgated on 23 March 1956. A former civil servant and finance secretary, he had earlier helped implement the One Unit Scheme merging West Pakistan's provinces in 1955, shortly before becoming Prime Minister. His government oversaw Pakistan's formal transition into an Islamic Republic under the new constitution, with Iskander Mirza becoming the country's first President. He resigned in September 1956 amid political disagreements within his own Muslim League party, and was succeeded by H.S. Suhrawardy.

H.S. Suhrawardy served as Prime Minister of Pakistan during 1956-57, leading a coalition government formed after Chaudhry Muhammad Ali's resignation, and bringing decades of political experience as a former Chief Minister of undivided Bengal. A skilled orator and one of the few prominent East Pakistani leaders to head the national government during this period, he sought greater provincial autonomy and closer ties with the United States through defence pacts like SEATO and CENTO. His government fell in October 1957 amid disputes within the ruling coalition, reflecting the political instability that characterised Pakistan's parliamentary era of the 1950s. He was succeeded briefly by I.I. Chundrigar before Feroz Khan Noon took office as Prime Minister.

I.I. Chundrigar served briefly as Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1957, holding office for less than two months after Suhrawardy's coalition government collapsed, reflecting the extreme political instability of Pakistan's late 1950s parliamentary period. A respected lawyer and Muslim League politician originally from Gujarat, he had earlier served in several ministerial roles, including Commerce Minister in Pakistan's first cabinet after independence. His short-lived government fell after his coalition partners withdrew their support, and he was succeeded by Feroz Khan Noon, the last Prime Minister before Ayub Khan's 1958 military takeover ended parliamentary government altogether. Chundrigar's brief tenure remains one of several examples of the rapid premiership turnover that marked Pakistan's pre-Ayub political years.

The 1956 Constitution formally declared Pakistan to be an Islamic Republic, adopted on 23 March 1956 after years of delay by the second Constituent Assembly, and incorporating the 1949 Objectives Resolution as its preamble. It established a parliamentary system of government with Iskander Mirza as the country's first President, while retaining a unicameral legislature at the federal level. The constitution proved short-lived, abrogated less than three years later when President Mirza declared martial law in October 1958, opening the door to Ayub Khan's military rule. Pakistan subsequently adopted a second constitution in 1962 under Ayub Khan, before the current 1973 Constitution, still in force today, replaced it after the loss of East Pakistan.

Ayub Khan introduced the 'Basic Democracies' local government system in 1959, shortly after imposing martial law in October 1958, creating a multi-tiered structure of elected local councils intended to serve as the foundation of a controlled form of political participation. Under this system, around 80,000 'Basic Democrats' elected at the local level also functioned as an electoral college for choosing the President and members of national and provincial assemblies. The system was later enshrined in the 1962 Constitution, which replaced direct elections with this indirect model, drawing criticism for limiting genuine democratic representation. Fatima Jinnah unsuccessfully challenged Ayub Khan under this very electoral system in the 1965 presidential election.

The 1962 Constitution promulgated by Ayub Khan replaced the constitution of 1956, introducing a presidential system in place of the earlier parliamentary model and formalising the indirect 'Basic Democracies' electoral structure established a few years earlier. It removed the term 'Islamic' from the country's official name, calling it simply the 'Republic of Pakistan', though this was later restored through an amendment following public criticism. The constitution concentrated power heavily in the presidency, reflecting Ayub Khan's preference for centralised, technocratic governance over parliamentary democracy. It remained in force until the political crisis of 1969, when Ayub resigned and General Yahya Khan abrogated it upon taking power.

Nurul Amin, who briefly served as Prime Minister in December 1971, is remembered as the shortest-serving Prime Minister, holding office for about 13 days, appointed by President Yahya Khan in the final desperate days before Pakistan's surrender in the 1971 war. A veteran East Pakistani politician who had opposed the Awami League's Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Amin also simultaneously served as Vice President, a rare dual arrangement reflecting the crisis atmosphere of the war's final days. His brief tenure ended when Yahya Khan resigned following the fall of Dhaka on 16 December 1971, handing power to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as President. Amin subsequently played a much smaller role in Pakistani politics, remaining one of the few senior East Pakistani leaders who chose to stay in Pakistan after Bangladesh's independence.