Government of Pakistan

The Government of Pakistan (Urdu: حکومتِ پاکستان), uses a federal parliamentary system, with a President as the Head of State and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government.

About the government

The President of Pakistan is the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, and is elected for a five-year term by the Electoral College of Pakistan - composed of the Senate, the National Assembly, and the four Provincial Assemblies. The President’s appointment and term are constitutionally independent of the Prime Minister’s term. The current President of Pakistan is Asif Ali Zardari, after being elected by the Electoral College of Pakistan on 6 September.The Prime Minister of Pakistan is usually the leader of the largest party in the National Assembly and is assisted by a cabinet of ministers drawn from both chambers of the federal legislature. Currently, Yousaf Raza Gillani is the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

The bicameral federal legislature comprises the 100 member Senate (with seats equally distributed among the provinces and the FATA and the capital) and the 342 member National Assembly. Both the Senate and the National Assembly have seats reserved for women and religious minorities. Senators are elected for six-year terms, with staggered elections every three years, whilst members of the National Assembly are elected for five-year terms. The Constitution provides for the President to address the federal legislature together at the start of the first session after any general elections.

The National Assembly elections that were held in October 2002 had 91 women elected to its Parliament - the largest number and percentage of women in the parliament of any Muslim-majority country.ref|ipudata

Although the elected government of 2002 had a number of failures in its tenure, from failures in foreign policy, rise in terrorism, gagging free speech of media, political parties and the people, taking the judiciary as a hostage, failure in microeconomics, destabilizing the institutions on the whole, it still somehow is the first elected government in Pakistan's history to complete its full 5 years.This Government also pumped some much needed lifeline into the economy by getting crucial economic aid from the United States as well as by bringing foreign investment into its economy from various countries.

Each province has a similar government setup with a Provincial Assembly elected for a five-year term through multi-party elections, which in turn elects a Chief Minister - the executive head of the province. The Chief Minister nominates a candidate for the office of Provincial Governor and the Provincial Assembly ratifies the nominee for a five-year term.

Pakistan Recently held its Parliamentarian election on Feb 18 2008. The Party of Slain Leader Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan People's Party parliamentarian (PPPP) won 120 seats in the National Assembly while Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif won 90 seats in the National Assembly. President Musharaf's ally party Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) came a distant third with 51 seats.After the elections The People's Party Parliamentarian and the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz announced a coalition to form the new government alone with Awami National Party (ANP) which is also a part of the coalition. The finalization of the government is currently underway however the coalition has choose n Syed Yousuf Raza Gilana as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan. The New Cabinet of ministers shall be decided upon and sworn in soon. Important ministries will be divided among the coalition.

Federal government

"Executive"
*President
*Prime Minister
*National Security Council"Legislative"
*Parliament
**Senate
**National Assembly
**** Leader of the Opposition
*Federal Government Ministries
**Federal Ministers"Judicial"
*Judiciary
**Attorney General

Provincial governments

* Balochistan
* Islamabad Capital Territory
* North-West Frontier Province
* Punjab
* Sindh

Local governments

* Districts
* Tehsils
* Union Councils and Village Councils"Former"
* Divisions (abolished in August 2000)

Recent developments

On November 3, 2007, President Musharraf suspended Pakistan's constitution by declaring a state of emergency.

Pakistan's new parliament elected the country's first female speaker March 19 2008 from the Pakistan Peoples Party: Fahmida Mirza. [http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/19/pakistan.speaker.ap/index.html] Allies of President Pervez Musharraf withdrew their candidate for Pakistan's prime minister, Farooq Sattar, on March 22 2008. Musharraf's supporters said their decision was a "good will gesture" to slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party, who won the most parliamentary seats in Pakistani general election, 2008 on February 18 2008. On March 22, the Pakistan Peoples Party named former parliament speaker Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani as its candidate for the country's next prime minister. A confirmation vote is scheduled for March 24 2008 in parliament, and the prime minister would be sworn in by Musharraf March 25 2008, On March 25 2008 President Pervez Musharraf sworn in newly elected Prime Minsiter Yousaf Raza Gillani as the country's next Prime Minister. [http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/22/pakistan.pm.ap/index.html]

On August 7, 2008, the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) agreed to force Musharraf to step down and begin his impeachment. Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, announced sending a formal request or joint charge sheet that he steps down, and impeach him through parliamentary process upon refusal. Musharaf, howeer, said: “I will defeat those who try to push me to the wall. If they use their right to oust me, I have the right to defend myself." [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4475729.ece timesonline.co.uk, President Musharraf of Pakistan to be impeached] ] Musharraf, accordingly delayed his departure for the Beijing Olympics, by a day. [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSISL15267920080807 reuters.com, Pakistan rulers agree to begin Musharraf impeachment] ] A senior coalition official told Reuters: "Yes, we have agreed in principle to impeach him." [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/07/pakistan1 guardian.co.uk, Musharraf faces impeachment, Pakistan's ruling coalition agrees 'in principle' to begin proceedings to remove president] ] The draft of the ruling coalition’s joint statement had been finalized by the draft Committee, and Musharraf must obtain vote of confidence from the National Assembly and 4 provincial assemblies. [ [http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?204242 paktribune.com, Draft of ruling coalition’s joint statement finalized] ] The government summoned the national assembly, or lower house of parliament, to sit on August 11. [ [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jpuJxx-xhy2gReRH2_RwdR0APszw afp.google.com, Pakistan coalition agrees to impeach Musharraf: officials] ] Capt. Wasif Syed, spokesman for the Pakistan People's Party -- confirmed: "A decision has been made that he has to go now, and all the parties have agreed on this point." [ [http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/08/07/pakistan.impeach/ edition.cnn.com, Pakistan: Musharraf could face impeachment] ]

Ministries and divisions

Departments

See also

* Ministry of Finance of the Government of Pakistan
* Statistics Division of the Government of Pakistan
* Federal Bureau of Statistics of the Government of Pakistan
* Pakistan Institute of International Affairs
* Gazette of Pakistan
* Economic Coordination Committee

References

External links

* [http://www.pakistan.gov.pk The Official Web Gateway to the Government of Pakistan]
* [http://www.senate.gov.pk Senate of Pakistan]
* [http://www.na.gov.pk National Assembly of Pakistan]
* [http://www.scp.com.pk Supreme Court of Pakistan]
* [http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk President of Pakistan]