Pakistan Affairs MCQs – Page 5 (Q41-50)

Pakistan's first constitution was promulgated on 23 March 1956, nearly nine years after independence, establishing the country as an Islamic Republic with a parliamentary system. It replaced the Government of India Act 1935, which had served as an interim constitutional framework during the early years of statehood. The 1956 constitution was short-lived, abrogated in 1958 when President Iskander Mirza imposed martial law and General Ayub Khan seized power soon after. Pakistan subsequently adopted a second constitution in 1962 under Ayub Khan, before the current 1973 Constitution, still in force today, was adopted under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

The Objectives Resolution was passed by Pakistan's Constituent Assembly in March 1949, moved by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, and it set out the foundational principles for the country's future constitutions. It declared that sovereignty belongs to Allah and that the state would exercise power through elected representatives within limits prescribed by Islam, while also guaranteeing fundamental rights and protection for minorities. The resolution was later incorporated as a preamble to the 1956, 1962 and 1973 constitutions, and made a substantive part of the constitution through the Eighth Amendment in 1985. It remains a key reference point in debates over Pakistan's identity as an Islamic state.

Pakistan's current constitution was promulgated on 14 August 1973, drafted under the government of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto following the 1971 loss of East Pakistan. It established a federal parliamentary system with a bicameral legislature, comprising the National Assembly and Senate, and declared Islam as the state religion. The constitution has been amended many times since, most notably by the 18th Amendment in 2010, which devolved significant powers to the provinces and renamed NWFP to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It replaced the earlier 1956 and 1962 constitutions, both of which were suspended amid periods of martial law.

Ayub Khan is credited in Pakistani history with imposing the country's first martial law, taking effect from 7 October 1958, after which he sidelined President Iskander Mirza -- who had formally proclaimed the martial law just weeks earlier -- and assumed the presidency himself by late October. Ayub ruled Pakistan for over a decade until 1969, promulgating a new 1962 constitution and pursuing major infrastructure and 'Green Revolution' agricultural reforms alongside centralised authoritarian rule. His era ended amid mass protests in 1968-69, after which he handed power to army chief Yahya Khan rather than reviving the 1962 constitution's civilian succession process. Pakistan subsequently experienced further martial law periods under Yahya Khan in 1969 and Zia-ul-Haq in 1977, making military rule a recurring feature of the country's political history.

Ayub Khan promulgated Pakistan's second constitution in 1962, several years into his martial law rule that began in 1958, introducing a presidential system in place of the earlier parliamentary model. The 1962 constitution created the concept of 'Basic Democracies', a system of indirectly elected local councils that also served as an electoral college for choosing the president, a structure many criticised as limiting genuine democratic participation. It replaced the short-lived 1956 constitution and remained in force until it too was abrogated amid the political crisis and civil war of 1969-71. Pakistan's current, third constitution was adopted in 1973 under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto after the loss of East Pakistan.

East Pakistan separated to become the independent state of Bangladesh in December 1971, following a nine-month war triggered by political and economic grievances, the suppression of the Bengali autonomy movement, and a brutal military crackdown that began in March 1971. The crisis stemmed partly from the 1970 general election, in which the Awami League under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman won a majority but was denied the chance to form a government. India intervened militarily in support of Bengali fighters, leading to the surrender of Pakistani forces in Dhaka on 16 December 1971. The conflict remains one of the most significant and traumatic events in Pakistan's history, resulting in its territorial and demographic division.

Benazir Bhutto became Pakistan's first female Prime Minister in December 1988, and remains the first woman to head a democratic government in a Muslim-majority country. Daughter of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, she led the Pakistan Peoples Party and served two non-consecutive terms, from 1988-1990 and 1993-1996, both cut short by dismissal on corruption allegations. She was assassinated on 27 December 2007 in Rawalpindi while campaigning ahead of the 2008 general election, an attack that shocked the nation. Fatima Jinnah, sister of the Quaid-e-Azam, was an influential political figure in her own right but never held the office of Prime Minister.

Iskander Mirza became Pakistan's first President in 1956, when the country adopted its first constitution and transitioned from Governor-General to a presidential head-of-state system. He had earlier served as the last Governor-General of Pakistan before that role was replaced under the new constitution. His presidency was short and turbulent, ending when he declared martial law in October 1958 and was then removed from power within weeks by General Ayub Khan, who exiled him and assumed the presidency himself. Mirza spent his remaining years in exile in Britain and died in 1969, never returning to Pakistan.

The Senate is the upper house of Pakistan's bicameral Parliament, established to give equal representation to all four provinces regardless of population, unlike the National Assembly which is apportioned by population size. Senators are elected indirectly by the provincial assemblies and serve staggered six-year terms, with roughly half the seats up for election every three years. This structure helps balance the influence of larger provinces like Punjab against smaller ones such as Balochistan in the legislative process. The Senate shares law-making powers with the National Assembly, though the National Assembly holds primary authority over money bills and the selection of the Prime Minister.

The National Assembly is the lower house of Pakistan's Parliament and the more powerful of the two chambers, responsible for electing the Prime Minister, approving the federal budget, and holding the government primarily accountable. Its members are directly elected by the public through general elections, with seats allocated among provinces based on population, giving Punjab the largest bloc of seats. It normally has a five-year term unless dissolved earlier, and sits alongside the Senate, the smaller upper house that gives equal provincial representation. Together the two houses form the bicameral Majlis-e-Shoora, Pakistan's Parliament, as established under the 1973 Constitution.