A Seminar on Pakistan and Their Current

State of Affairs

By Matt Lounton and Jason Oneil

Pakistan

How Pakistan came to be

• During the 1940’s India was preparing for independence from Britain.

• Due to this Muslim Indians pushed for obtaining their own independent state.

• This became a reality on August 14, 1947 creating The Republic of Pakistan.

Pakistan as an Islamic Republic

• Pakistan was proclaimed to be an Islamic Republic in 1956

• Pakistan’s proclamation of being an Islamic Republic is mainly a symbol of cultural identity as they are a semi secular state where state religion was not introduced until the 1973 constitution.

• Due to Pakistan being an Islamic Republic technically Islamic laws override laws of the state but that is not always the case.

Government Structure

Part 1 – President • At the current time Pakistan has a federal parliamentary system with a president

who is the head of state and a prime minister who is elected as head of government • The president is elected for a 5 year term by an electoral college which consists of

members from the Senate, the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies.• The president may be removed from office due to misconduct if two thirds of

parliament members vote in favor of the removal.• The president mainly acts on advice from the prime minister but also has important

powers of his own such as the ability to dissolve the National Assembly (which is the lower house of the legislature) when "in his discretion where, in his opinion . . . a situation has arisen in which the Government of the Federation cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and an appeal to the electorate is necessary."

• The current president of Pakistan is Pervez Musharraf

Government StructurePart 2 – National Assembly

• The bicameral federal legislature of Pakistan known as the Council of Advisors consists of the Senate which is the upper house and the National Assembly which is the lower house.

• Members of the National Assembly are people of the age 21 and over elected by universal adult suffrage.

• Seats are given to each of the four provinces the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and Islamabad Capital Territory on the basis of their current population. There are a total of 342 seats, 60 seats reserved for women, 10 seats reserved for minorities.

• National Assembly Members serve for a parliamentary term which is 5 years unless they die, resign or the assembly is dissolved.

• The vast majority of the seats have Muslims in them with about 5 percent reserved for minorities.

• The most important function of the National Assembly is the passage of bills mostly ones involved with the budgets of different sectors.

Government StructurePart 3 – The Senate

• The Senate is a permanent legislative being which can not be dissolved and has equal representation from all four provinces elected by their respective provincial assemblies

• Should the presidential office become vacant the chairman of the senate is the next in line to act as president until a new one can be formally elected.

• Both the Senate and the National Assembly can initiate and pass legislation except for the finance bills of Pakistan which only the National Assembly can approve.

• Bills can be prevented by the president unless he is overruled by the majority of members by both houses.

Government Structure Part 4 – Provincial Government

• Each of the four provinces of Pakistan Punjab, Sindh, Northwest Frontier, and Balochistan has a governor, a Council of Ministers headed by a chief minister appointed by the governor, and a provincial assembly.

• Members are elected by universal adult suffrage and have reserved seats for different minorities.

• Most of the services in areas such as health, education, agriculture, and roads are provided by the provincial government though the federal government may also be involved in these areas they only handle the international aspect of those services.

Government StructurePart 5 – Judicial System

• The Judicial System includes the Supreme Court, provincial high courts and other lesser courts involved with civil and criminal jurisdiction. The chief justice of the Supreme Court is appointed by the president and the other Supreme Court judges are appointed by the president after consultation with the chief justice.

• The chief justice and judges of the Supreme Court may remain in office until age sixty-five.

• Provincial high court judges are appointed by the president as well after consultation with the chief justice as well as the governor of the province and the chief justice of the provincial high court to which the appointment is being made.

• There are also special courts and tribunals which are used for anything from drug convictions to trying terrorists.

Pervez Musharraf

• Pervez Musharraf is the current President of Pakistan and former Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army.

• Musharraf came to power on October 12, 1999 by means of a bloodless military coup ousting Nawaz Sharif the elected prime minister and dissolving the National and Provincial Assemblies, while also declaring martial law and assuming the title of Chief Executive and became the head of government.

• Later on in 2001 Musharraf appointed himself President officially.

• He currently retains the title of President and formerly Chief of Army which raisesd alot of debate from those who believe a President should not be part of the military at the same time and with such a high ranking position.

State of Emergency

• Here is a video of President Pervez Musharraf defending his declaration of the state of emergency on November 3, 2007

• http://youtube.com/watch?v=ya86zLFxHrs&feature=related

• Here is another video taking into accounts the reactions of Pakistani people towards the state of emergency

• http://youtube.com/watch?v=tRvKzQz-x7c

Present Day Pakistan

• On the third of November 2007 President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency and the constitution was suspended. The army entered the Supreme Court and detained the Chief Justice. A media blackout is also under way in Pakistan.

• By November fifth 3,400 people had been arrested most being lawyers, civil right leaders and liberal political party members.

• Musharraf compares his declaration of emergency to that of when US president Abraham Lincoln suspended certain rights during the American Civil War for the good of the country.

Media Black out

Current Day Affairs

• Musharraf says the State of Emergency will end in late November or early December.

• Nawaz Sharif former prime minister of Pakistan who was exiled after the coup d’etat Musharraf orchestrated finally returned to Pakistan on November 24 th 2007 from Saudi Arabia due to pressure the Saudi Arabian government put on Musharraf.

• Elections have been promised to begin in January as scheduled by his regime.

• The 3,400 plus people who have been arrested since the State of Emergency began have been begun to be released.

• Former Prime Minister Bhutto who was under house arrested due to wanting to participate in rallies against Musharraf is now allowed to leave her home and attend rallies.

Questions

• Do you feel that the state of emergency was justified by Musharraf?

• Do you believe that Musharraf should have been allowed to retain his military position and presidential position at the same time?

• In your opinion was it okay for Musharraf to suspend the constitution?

• Also do you feel that Musharraf should have been allowed to impose a media black out

To Be ContinuedTo Be Continued