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Government
Pakistan
was created entirely through a democratic and constitutional
struggle. Islam is the anchor-sheet of Pakistan
and democracy is ingrained deep into the Muslim psyche. Islam
permits no "hero worship". Pakistan's record of
parliamentary democracy may be checkered but its return to this
form after each pause and break more than vindicates the fact that
democratic traditions are deep-rooted in Pakistan's policy.
The Constitution of
the Islamic Republic of Pakistan provides for a Federal
Parliamentary System of government, with President as the Head of
State and the popularly elected Prime Minister as Head of
government. The Federal Legislature is a bicameral Majlis-e-Shoora
(Parliament), composed of the National Assembly and the Senate.
The Constitution also provides for the President to address the
two Houses assembled together at the commencement of the first
session after General Elections.
Pervez Musharraf
has been chief of state since June 20, 2001. A prolonged
confrontation over authority between Parliament and the President
ended in December 2002 with a compromise which permitted passage
of the Legal Framework Order (LFO) of 2002, under the terms of
which President Musharraf made his pledge to resign his military
position as Commander-in-Chief in late 2004. In 2004 General
Musharraf announced that he would retain his military role.
The Pakistan
Constitution of 1973, amended substantially in 1985 under Zia
ul-Haq, was suspended by the military government in October 1999.
It was restored on December 31, 2002. Selected provisions of the
Constitution pertaining to changes that President Musharraf made
while the Constitution was suspended remain contested by political
opponents.
The president is
chosen for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting of
the Senate, National Assembly, and the provincial assemblies. The
prime minister is selected by the National Assembly for a
four-year term. The bicameral parliament--or
Majlis-e-Shoora--consists of the Senate (100 seats; members are
indirectly elected by provincial assemblies to serve four-year
terms) and the National Assembly (342 seats; 60 seats reserved for
women, 10 seats reserved for minorities; members elected by
popular vote serve four-year terms). Each of the four
provinces--Punjab, Sindh, Northwest Frontier, and Balochistan--has
a Chief Minister and provincial assembly. The Northern Areas, Azad
Kashmir and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) are
administered by the federal government but enjoy considerable
autonomy. The cabinet, National Security Council, and governors
serve at the president's discretion.
The judicial system
comprises a Supreme Court, provincial high courts, and Federal
Islamic (or Shari'a) Court. The Supreme Court is Pakistan's
highest court. The president appoints the chief justice and they
together determine the other judicial appointments. Each province
has a high court, the justices of which are appointed by the
president after conferring with the chief justice of the Supreme
Court and the provincial chief justice. The judiciary is
proscribed from issuing any order contrary to the decisions of the
President. Federal Sharia Court hears cases that primarily involve
Sharia, or Islamic law. Legislation enacted in 1991 gave legal
status to Sharia. Although Sharia was declared the law of the
land, it did not replace the existing legal code.
The Pakistan Muslim
League (PML) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) are national
political parties, while the Muttahid Majlis-e-Amal (MMA)--an
umbrella group of six religious parties, including the
Jamaat-il-Islami--gained significant influence during the 2002
election. After those elections, the Pakistani political system
remained highly fragmented, with no group winning a substantial
majority of seats in the national assembly, and religious groups
banding together in the MMA to earn a significant portion of seats
for the first time.
According to the
constitution, Pakistan is a federation of four provinces:
Baluchistan, the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Punjab, and
Sindh. Governors appointed by the president head the provinces.
There is also the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and
the Islamabad Capital Territory, which consists of the capital
city of Islamabad. These areas and territory are under the
jurisdiction of the federal government. The Northern Areas are
administered as a de facto "Union Territory" and are
treated as an integral part of Pakistan. The
Pakistani-administered portion of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir
region includes Azad Kashmir, a separate and autonomous government
that maintains strong ties to Pakistan.
Principal
Government Officials
President--Pervez Musharraf
Prime Minister (head of government)--Shaukat Aziz
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Khurshid Kasuri
Ambassador to the U.S.--Jehangir Karamat
Ambassador to the UN--Munir Akram
Pakistan maintains
an embassy in the United States in Washington, DC and it has
consulates in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Houston.
National
Security
Pakistan has the
world's eighth-largest armed forces, which is generally well
trained and disciplined. However, budget constraints and
nation-building duties have reduced Pakistan's training tempo,
which if not reversed, could affect the operational readiness of
the armed forces. Likewise, Pakistan has had an increasingly
difficult time maintaining their aging fleet of U.S., Chinese,
U.K., and French equipment. While industrial capabilities have
expanded significantly, limited budget resources and sanctions
have significantly constrained the government's efforts to
modernize its armed forces.
Until 1990, the
United States provided military aid to Pakistan to modernize its
conventional defensive capability. The United States allocated
about 40% of its assistance package to non-reimbursable credits
for military purchases, the third-largest program behind Israel
and Egypt. The remainder of the aid program was devoted to
economic assistance. Sanctions put in place in 1990 denied
Pakistan further military assistance due to the discovery of its
program to develop nuclear weapons. Sanctions were tightened
following Pakistan's nuclear tests in response to India's May 1998
tests and the military coup of 1999. Pakistan has remained a
non-signatory of the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty. The events
of September 11, 2001, and Pakistan's agreement to support the
United States led to a waiving of the sanctions, and military
assistance resumed to provide spare parts and equipment to enhance
Pakistan's capacity to police its western border and address its
legitimate security concerns. In 2003, President Bush announced
that the United States would provide Pakistan with $3 billion in
economic and military aid over 5 years. This assistance package
commenced during FY 2005.
Information
obtained from the US Department of State Website
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