MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
|
|
Pakistan
Index
General Zia ul-Haq, chief of the army staff, became
chief
martial law administrator in July 1977 and president in
September
1978. He suspended the constitution, with the army's
stated
objective being to create an environment in which fair
elections
could be held. However, Bhutto, his primary opponent, was
tried
and sentenced to death in 1978 on the charge of conspiring
to
murder a political opponent. The Supreme Court upheld the
sentence, and Bhutto was hanged in April 1979. Zia
cancelled the
elections that had been promised and kept the country
under
martial law until 1985. During this time, Zia pressed the
policy
that Pakistan's survival and progress were dependent on
building
an Islamic state. A number of measures were taken to
implement
this policy, including the introduction of the Federal
Shariat
Court. A referendum held in 1984 confirmed Zia's policy of
Islamization. In this referendum, a "yes" vote agreeing
with
Zia's Islamization policy was also to be interpreted as a
vote
for Zia to remain in office as president for another five
years.
According to the results reported by the government but
contested
by the opposition, Zia obtained 98 percent of total votes
cast.
Zia's government also adapted Ayub's Basic Democracies
structure to institute a new system of local government.
Local
councils were organized into tiers with union councils at
the
base, tehsil (subdistrict) councils above them, and
zilla (district) councils at the apex. The system
also
included municipal committees and municipal corporations
in the
larger metropolitan centers. Councillors were elected for
fouryear terms and could stand for reelection. The councils
were
designed to meet a need for grass-roots expression.
Elections
were conducted without formal political party affiliation
or
involvement. The councils were to concentrate on improving
local
development, including agricultural production, education,
health, roads, and water supply.
In 1985 elections were held for both the national and
the
provincial assemblies, an amended version of the 1973
constitution was reinstated, and martial law was ended.
Zia
remained president, and the amended constitution,
including the
controversial Eighth Amendment passed by the National
Assembly in
November 1985, gave predominant political authority to the
president
(see President
, this ch.). The president could
appoint
and dismiss the prime minister and the provincial
governors and
could dissolve both the national and the provincial
assemblies. A
significant feature of the 1973 constitution as amended in
1985,
insofar as the Islamization process was concerned, was
that the
Objectives Resolution, adopted by the first Constituent
Assembly
in 1949 and made a preamble to the 1956, 1962, and 1973
constitutions, was incorporated as a substantive part
(Article 2-
A) of this restored constitution. The Objectives
Resolution
provided, in part, that Pakistan would be a state "wherein
the
Muslims shall be enabled to order their lives in the
individual
and collective spheres in accordance with the teachings
and
requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Quran and the
Sunna."
Political parties were not allowed to participate in
the 1985
elections, and the PPP, led by Benazir Bhutto (Zulfiqar's
daughter), boycotted them. After the elections, Zia picked
Mohammad Khan Junejo, a politician from Sindh and a
minister in
one of his earlier cabinets, as his prime minister. The
ZiaJunejo period lasted three years until Zia dismissed the
prime
minister and dissolved the National Assembly and the four
provincial assemblies. Zia cited incompetence, corruption,
and
failure to further the Islamization process as reasons for
his
actions. In addition, Zia came to regard Junejo as too
independent, and the two men clashed on a number of issues
including differences on policy relating to Afghanistan
and
promotions in the armed services. Zia also announced that
new
elections would be held.
Zia's sudden death in a airplane crash in August 1988
near
Bahawalpur, a town in central Punjab, left Pakistan
without a
president, prime minister, or national or provincial
assemblies.
In a demonstration of the country's resilience, Ghulam
Ishaq
Khan, the chairman of the Senate--which had not been
dissolved by
Zia--and next in the constitutional line of succession,
became
interim president in December. Elections were held,
Benazir
became prime minister, and Ishaq Khan was subsequently
elected
president.
Data as of April 1994
|
|