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Pakistan
Zia ul-Haq, 1977-88
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
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