The Democratically Elected and the Military Presidents of Pakistan
Out of 12, 7 were democratically elected President and 4 were the military Presidents.
(WebDesk) - President of Pakistan is the ceremonial figurehead and consider as the symbol of the federation. After the 18th amendment in the constitution of Pakistan, the amended executive powers vested to the office of the President in the constitution of Pakistan after 1973 was surrendered by the former President of Pakistan Asif Zardari to the Prime Minister of Pakistan who is officially the representatative of the Parliament and is accountable by the Parliament. After this relinquish of the authority and supremacy, Pakistan reversed into parliamentary democratic position of the constitution of 1973.
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Since the promulgation of the first constitution of Pakistan in 1956, Pakistan has elected 12 Presidents of Pakistan to date. Out of 12 Presidents, seven were democratically elected President and four were the military dictators cum Presidents. Pakiistan peoples Party is the only Party who had succeeded in electing four Presidents which is still is the maximum number of Presidents elected democratically elected having affiliations with the political party.
The polling to elect the 13th President of Pakistan is underway.
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The Democratically Elected Presidents Of Pakistan
Pakistan elected seven presidents democratically through the bicameral parliament and voting for the 8th democratically President is underway. The democratic Presidents of Pakistan had served the office for almost 26 years in total.
Here is given the brief profile of the democratically elected Presidents:
Chaudhary Fazal Ilahi
Tenure: 13 August 1973 – 16 September 1978
Total Duration: 5 Years, 1 Month, 3 Days
Political Affiliation: Pakistan Peoples Party
Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Tenure: 17 August 1988 – 18 July 1993
Total Duration: 4 Years, 11 Months, 1 Day
Political Affiliation: Independent
Sardar Farooq Leghari
Tenure: 14 November 1993 – 2 December 1997
Total Duration: 4 Years, 18 Days
Political Affiliation: Pakistan Peoples Party
Muhammad Rafiq Tarar
Tenure: 1 January 1998 – 20 June 2001
Total Duration: 3 Years, 5 Months, 19 Days
Political Affiliation: Pakistan Muslim League (N)
Asif Ali Zardari
Tenure: 9 September 2008 – 8 September 2013
Total Duration: 5 Years
Political Affiliation: Pakistan People’s Party
Mamnoon Hussain
Tenure: 9 September 2013 – Incumbent
Total Duration: 5 years
Political Party: Pakistan Muslim League (N)
Shortest Time Served by a Democratically Elected President
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1 Year, 7 Months, 24 Days)
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto as the 4th President of Pakistan had served as the office for the smallest term of almost one and a half year from end of 1971 to mid 1973.
After the East Pakistan seperation in 1971, Bhutto was handed over the presidency in December 1971 and emergency rule was imposed. On 20 December, he took over two positions from then Chief of Army Staff and President Yahya Khan, one as president and the other as first civilian Chief Martial Law Administrator. Thus, he was the first civilian Chief Martial Law Administrator of the dismembered Pakistan. By the time Bhutto had assumed control of what remained of Pakistan.
In 1973, National Assembly approved the new Constitution, which Bhutto signed into effect on 12 April. The constitution proclaimed an "Islamic Republic" in Pakistan with a parliamentary form of government after which assuming the office of Prime Minister, Bhutto turned over the post of president to Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry.
Longest Time Served by a Democratically Elected President
Chaudhary Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry (5 Years, 1 Month, 3 Days)
Fazal Elahi Chaudhry was the 5th President of Pakistan who had served longest term as the President of Pakistan from 1973 till 1978 prior to the martial law imposed by then chief of Army Staff General Ziaul Haq
After the successful promulgation of country’s constitution in 1973, Chaudhry was elected as the president, succeeded Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and became the first president of country from the Punjabi class of the Punjab Province.
His presidency was a mere figurehead as per the constitution, since the heading of the government’s operations remained the authority of prime minister.
After litigious affairs with the military, Chaudhry surrendered from the office after resigning from his presidency. Chaudhry handed the charge of the presidency to ruling military general Zia-ul-Haq who succeeded him as the sixth president, in addition to being theChief Martial Law Administrator and the Chief of Army Staff.
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The Military Presidents Of Pakistan
Four military Presidents had taken the charge of the presidency in the capacity of the most powerful office of the state. The four Military Presidents of Pakistan had served the office for almost 29 years in total which was more span than the duration of all the seven Presidents of Pakistan who were democratically elected through Parliament.
Here is given the brief profile of the Military Presidents:
Field Marshal Ayub Khan
Tenure: 27 October 1958 – 25 March 1969
Total Duration: 10 Years, 4 Months, 26 Days
General Muhammad Yahya Khan
Tenure: 25 March 1969 – 20 December 1971
Total Duration: 2 Years, 8 Months, 25 Days
General Zia ul Haq
Tenure: 16 September 1978 – 17 August 1988
Total Duration: 9 Years, 11 Months, 1 Day
General Pervaiz Musharaf
Tenure: 20 June 2001 – 18 August 2008
Total Duration: 7 Years, 1 Month, 29 Days
Longest Time Served by a Military President
Field Marshal Ayub Khan (10 Years, 4 Months, 26 Days)
Mohammad Ayub Khan, was the second and the longest serving President in the history of Pakistan who kept the office from 1958 to 1969, whose rule marked a critical period in the modern development of Pakistan.
After several years of political turmoil in Pakistan, in 1958 President Iskander Mirza, with army support, abrogated the constitution and appointed Ayub as chief martial law administrator. Soon after, Ayub had himself declared president, and Mirza was exiled.
Ayub introduced the system of “basic democracies” in 1960. A national referendum among all those elected confirmed Ayub as president. He was reelected under this system in 1965, against a strong challenge from an opposition united behind Fatima Jinnah, the sister of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the creator of Pakistan.
When the United States began to rearm India after China’s invasion of northern India in 1962, Ayub established close relations with China and received substantial military aid from it. In the meantime, Pakistan’s dispute with India over Jammu and Kashmir worsened, culminating in the outbreak of war in 1965. After two weeks of fighting, both sides agreed to a UN-called cease-fire and came to a boundary settlement.
The internal and external turmoil made Ayub announced he would not stand for reelection. Riots continued, and he resigned his office on March 26, 1969, to be succeeded by General Yahya Khan, commander in chief of the army
Shortest Time Served by a Military President
General Muhammad Yahya Khan (2 Years, 8 Months, 25 Days)
General Muhammad Yahya Khan, was the third President of Pakistan, served from 25 March 1969 until turning over his presidency in December 1971.
Once Ayub handed over power to Yahya Khan on 25 March 1969 Yahya inherited a two-decade constitutional problem of inter-provincial ethnic rivalry between the Punjabi-Pashtun-Mohajir dominated West Pakistan province and the ethnically Bengali Muslim East Pakistan province.
In addition, Yahya also inherited an 11 year old problem of transforming an essentially one man ruled country to a democratic country, which was the ideological basis of the anti-Ayub movement of 1968–69. All this together after the elections, turned the table around. Pakistan suffered a decisive defeat and lost East Pakistan in 1971
Yahya Khan’s rule is widely regarded as a leading cause of the break-up of the unity of Pakistan. Following these events, he turned over the leadership of the country to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and resigned from the command of the military.
