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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Pakistan
Index
Pakistan, in its comparatively short history, has tried
various forms of parliamentary, military, and presidential
governments in its efforts to achieve political stability.
At
independence Pakistan was governed by the Government of
India Act
of 1935 as amended by the authority of the India
Independence Act
of 1947. The amended act provided at the center for a
governor
general (as successor to the British viceroy) as head of
state
and for a Constituent Assembly with two separate
functions--to
prepare a constitution and to be a federal legislature
until the
constitution came into effect.
At the outset, however, this structure of governor
general
and parliamentary legislature took on singular
characteristics
tailored to the personality, prestige, and unique position
occupied by Jinnah, Pakistan's first governor general (see
table 13, Appendix). At independence, he was the supreme
authority, the
founder of the state, and the chief political leader. As
head of
the All-India Muslim League, in 1940 he mobilized the
political
effort that in just seven years won Pakistan's
independence. His
ultimate authority came not from military power, not from
the
support of the bureaucracy, and not from constitutional
prerogatives but from the political support of the people.
In
these circumstances, Jinnah chose to unite in himself the
functions of head of state and the power of chief
executive and
party boss. In addition to his position as governor
general, he
was elected president of the Constituent Assembly.
For the office of governor general to be held by an
active
party politician who continued as political leader was an
innovation. Initially, the arrangement may have seemed
necessary
to preserve national unity after independence and to
facilitate
the work of the new government. When Jinnah died, the
prime
minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, and the cabinet assumed
increased
power, in more traditional roles, and Khwaja Nazimuddin,
as the
new governor general, became a more traditional,
nonpolitical
head of state. Liaquat, however, found it difficult to
establish
his political authority. Whether the transfer of effective
power
to Liaquat while Jinnah was still alive might have created
a
precedent for future political stability in Pakistan is a
moot
point. Liaquat's assassination, three years later in
October
1951, was the catalyst for a series of constitutional and
political crises that over the years seemed almost
endemic.
Data as of April 1994
Independence
Pakistan, in its comparatively short history, has tried
various forms of parliamentary, military, and presidential
governments in its efforts to achieve political stability.
At
independence Pakistan was governed by the Government of
India Act
of 1935 as amended by the authority of the India
Independence Act
of 1947. The amended act provided at the center for a
governor
general (as successor to the British viceroy) as head of
state
and for a Constituent Assembly with two separate
functions--to
prepare a constitution and to be a federal legislature
until the
constitution came into effect.
At the outset, however, this structure of governor
general
and parliamentary legislature took on singular
characteristics
tailored to the personality, prestige, and unique position
occupied by Jinnah, Pakistan's first governor general (see
table 13, Appendix). At independence, he was the supreme
authority, the
founder of the state, and the chief political leader. As
head of
the All-India Muslim League, in 1940 he mobilized the
political
effort that in just seven years won Pakistan's
independence. His
ultimate authority came not from military power, not from
the
support of the bureaucracy, and not from constitutional
prerogatives but from the political support of the people.
In
these circumstances, Jinnah chose to unite in himself the
functions of head of state and the power of chief
executive and
party boss. In addition to his position as governor
general, he
was elected president of the Constituent Assembly.
For the office of governor general to be held by an
active
party politician who continued as political leader was an
innovation. Initially, the arrangement may have seemed
necessary
to preserve national unity after independence and to
facilitate
the work of the new government. When Jinnah died, the
prime
minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, and the cabinet assumed
increased
power, in more traditional roles, and Khwaja Nazimuddin,
as the
new governor general, became a more traditional,
nonpolitical
head of state. Liaquat, however, found it difficult to
establish
his political authority. Whether the transfer of effective
power
to Liaquat while Jinnah was still alive might have created
a
precedent for future political stability in Pakistan is a
moot
point. Liaquat's assassination, three years later in
October
1951, was the catalyst for a series of constitutional and
political crises that over the years seemed almost
endemic.
Data as of April 1994
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