compulsory · CSS study notes
Constitutional History of Pakistan
📂 START HERE — Open the Constitutional Comparison Subpage
📺 Directly Relevant YouTube Lecture Sources
- Political Instability Era (1951–1956) — 1951–56: why the constitution was delayed
- 1956 Constitution & Its Failure (1956–1958) — 1956 Constitution and its failure
- 1962 Constitution & Comparison with 1956 — 1962 Constitution vs 1956
- 1973 Constitution — Salient Features — 1973 Constitution
- 8th Constitutional Amendment (1985) — 8th Amendment
- 18th Constitutional Amendment (2010) — Dedicated Deep-Dive — 18th Amendment
📖 Historical and Constitutional Notes
📖 What to learn in order
- 1947–1956: The Interim Period
- 1956 Constitution
- 1962 Constitution (Ayub Khan)
- 1973 Constitution
- Key Amendments
- Exam Angle
CSS answer alignment: connect the note to the question's command word, dates, causal explanation and alternative view. Review actual papers before practice questions.
1947–1956: The Interim Period
- Governed under Government of India Act 1935 (adapted) — no indigenous constitution for 9 years
- Causes of delay:
- East–West parity dispute
- language controversy (Bengali vs Urdu)
- deaths of Jinnah (1948) and Liaquat (1951)
- weak party structure
- Objectives Resolution (1949) — set ideological direction (sovereignty belongs to Allah)
1956 Constitution
- Parliamentary federal system
- President: Muslim, over 40, chooses PM, emergency powers to dissolve assembly
- PM: real executive, chooses cabinet from National Assembly
- Unicameral National Assembly — 300 members, adult franchise
- One Unit Scheme — merged 4 West Pakistan provinces into one, to balance East Pakistan's population majority
- Collapsed in 2 years — Iskander Mirza abrogated it 7 Oct 1958, imposed martial law; Ayub Khan took over within 3 weeks
1962 Constitution (Ayub Khan)
- Presidential system (not parliamentary)
- Based on Basic Democracies system (introduced 1959) — indirect, tiered electoral college (~80,000 "Basic Democrats")
- Unicameral legislatures at centre & provinces
- Institutionalized military role in politics — legalized generals as PM/Defence Minister
- Abrogated 1969 when Ayub resigned, Yahya Khan imposed martial law
1973 Constitution
- Passed under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto after 1971 loss of East Pakistan
- Parliamentary federal system, still in force today (with amendments)
- Bicameral legislature (National Assembly + Senate)
- Islam declared state religion; PM is chief executive, President ceremonial
- Suspended/modified multiple times (Zia 1977–85, Musharraf 1999–2002) but never fully abrogated — restored each time
Key Amendments
- 8th Amendment (1985, Zia) — Article 58(2)(b), gave President power to dissolve assemblies
- 13th Amendment (1997) — removed 58(2)(b), restored PM supremacy
- 17th Amendment (2003, Musharraf) — restored presidential discretionary powers
- 18th Amendment (2010) — major provincial autonomy, removed 58(2)(b) permanently, renamed NWFP to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (see separate note)
Exam Angle
- Frame it as a pendulum between presidential and parliamentary systems.
- Each swing was driven by civil-military power struggles.