PPP's Third Tenure (2008–2013)

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Topic: Pakistan Peoples Party's Third Tenure (2008–2013) — Pakistan's first government to complete a full 5-year democratic term. Covers the return to democracy after Musharraf, the assassination-driven sympathy mandate, the 18th, 19th and 20th Amendments, the NRO and its collapse, the Lawyers' Movement and judiciary restoration, the Memogate scandal, Zardari's presidency, the Gilani/Ashraf premierships, the NFC Award 2009, the war against militancy (Swat, South Waziristan), the 2010 floods, and the economy.

Note: No lecture transcript was available for this topic; these notes are compiled independently for CSS Pakistan Affairs preparation, in the same style and depth as the rest of this playlist's notes.

CSS relevance: 🔥 Very high. The 18th Amendment is one of the single most-asked constitutional topics in the whole syllabus. The NFC Award, NRO, and civil–military relations under a democratic government are also frequently tested.

🗺️ Overview

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I. Background & the 2008 Elections

• Benazir Bhutto's assassination (27 December 2007) produced a strong sympathy wave for the PPP in the 18 February 2008 elections.
• Results: PPP emerged the single largest party (128 seats), followed by PML-N (~91) and PML-Q (54), the "King's Party" of the Musharraf era (see the Musharraf Era notes).
• PPP formed a coalition government with PML-N (initially), ANP, MQM, and JUI-F.
• 25 March 2008: Yousuf Raza Gillani became Prime Minister.
• PML-N left the coalition later in 2008 over disagreements on the restoration of judges, but PPP continued governing with its other partners.
• 6 September 2008: after Musharraf's resignation, Asif Ali Zardari was elected President with 481 votes.

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II. Zardari's Presidency: the Politics of "Reconciliation"

• Zardari, as PPP Co-Chairman and Benazir's widower, became the first President from PPP since Z.A. Bhutto.
• His tenure was marked by a strategy widely dubbed "reconciliation" politics: avoiding open confrontation with the military establishment, unlike Benazir's earlier tenures.
• Controversially, he retained the presidency's sweeping powers (inherited from Musharraf's 17th Amendment) for the first two years, before voluntarily ceding many of them through the 18th Amendment.

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III. The National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO)

• Background: the NRO was promulgated by Musharraf in October 2007, as part of a US-brokered deal to enable Benazir Bhutto's return to Pakistan by granting amnesty for corruption, embezzlement and other charges to politicians and officials for the period 1986–1999.
• It benefited Benazir Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari, and thousands of other politicians and bureaucrats, allowing pending cases to be withdrawn.
• Controversy: widely seen as a deal that let politicians escape accountability, and heavily criticised by the judiciary and civil society.
• 16 December 2009: the Supreme Court (under the restored CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry) declared the NRO unconstitutional and void ab initio, reopening thousands of corruption cases, including against President Zardari (though he enjoyed presidential immunity while in office) and other officials.
• This ruling fuelled years of tension between the PPP government and the judiciary, notably over the Swiss money-laundering case against Zardari (see Gilani's disqualification below).

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IV. The Lawyers' Movement's Climax: the 2009 Long March

• The Lawyers' Movement, begun under Musharraf (2007) demanding the restoration of the sacked judiciary, had not been fully resolved by the time PPP took office.
• PML-N and civil society pressed the PPP government to restore Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and other deposed judges (sacked again during Musharraf's November 2007 emergency).
• March 2009: a "Long March" was organised, led by lawyers and PML-N, converging on Islamabad.
• Under intense political and reportedly military pressure, PM Gillani announced the restoration of the deposed judges in the early hours of 16 March 2009, defusing the crisis.
• This strengthened judicial independence significantly, but also set the stage for a more assertive judiciary that would later clash repeatedly with the PPP government (NRO case, contempt case against Gillani).

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V. The 18th Constitutional Amendment (April 2010) — the Landmark Achievement

🔥 The single most important constitutional development of this tenure, and one of the most tested topics in CSS Pakistan Affairs.

Background

• A Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms, headed by Senator Raza Rabbani (PPP), was formed with representation from all major parties, to build consensus on undoing the 8th and 17th Amendments' distortions.
• Passed unanimously by both houses of Parliament; received presidential assent on 19 April 2010.

Key changes

1. Abolished Article 58(2)(b): removed the President's discretionary power to dissolve the National Assembly — the clause misused by Zia and Ghulam Ishaq Khan/Farooq Leghari to dismiss four elected governments (1988–1996) and briefly revived by Musharraf's 17th Amendment.
2. Restored Pakistan to a genuine parliamentary system: the President was made to act on the binding advice of the PM/Cabinet in almost all matters, becoming a largely ceremonial figurehead.
3. Renamed NWFP to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) (formally effective through this amendment; see also Section VIII).
4. Greater provincial autonomy:
   • Abolished the Concurrent Legislative List, transferring ~17 subjects (education, health, agriculture, environment, and others) entirely to the provinces.
   • This was hailed as fulfilling the promise of provincial autonomy first made in the 1940 Lahore Resolution and long a Bengali/smaller-province grievance since 1947 (see the East Pakistan separation notes).
5. Judicial appointments reformed: introduced a new Judicial Commission of Pakistan and a Parliamentary Committee for appointing judges to the superior courts (later refined by the 19th Amendment after a Supreme Court challenge — see below).
6. Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) strengthened: made appointments of the Chief Election Commissioner more consultative, involving both government and opposition.
7. Council of Common Interests (CCI) strengthened, to better manage inter-provincial and federal-provincial disputes (relevant to water, electricity, and natural resources).
8. Restrictions on floor-crossing and use of Article 62/63 (on the qualifications of parliamentarians) were revisited, though later amendments continued to refine this area.
9. Restored the Prime Minister's power to advise the President on key appointments (service chiefs, governors, etc.), reversing Musharraf-era centralisation.

Significance

• Widely regarded as restoring the 1973 Constitution's original parliamentary character, undoing three decades of military-inserted distortions (the 8th Amendment of 1985 and the 17th Amendment of 2003).
• Praised as a rare moment of cross-party consensus in Pakistan's history, comparable to the passage of the 1973 Constitution itself.
• Criticism: some argued the abolition of the Concurrent List was implemented too quickly, leaving provinces under-resourced/under-prepared to take over subjects like health and education (capacity concerns persisted for years afterward).

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VI. The 19th and 20th Amendments

19th Amendment (December 2010)

• Passed in response to a Supreme Court observation/challenge to the judicial appointments process created by the 18th Amendment.
• Refined the Judicial Commission and Parliamentary Committee mechanism for appointing judges, giving the judiciary primacy in nominations while retaining parliamentary oversight.
• Also increased the number of seats in KP's provincial assembly to accommodate the merger of the erstwhile Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA).

20th Amendment (February 2012)

• Focused on electoral reforms, particularly the appointment mechanism for caretaker governments ahead of general elections, to ensure greater consensus between government and opposition on caretaker PM/CM selection — directly relevant to the smooth 2013 transition that followed.

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VII. The 7th NFC Award (2009)

• National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, 2009: a landmark agreement on resource distribution between the federation and the provinces.
• Key features:
  • Raised the provinces' combined share of the divisible pool from 47.5% to 57.5%, a major shift toward fiscal decentralisation.
  • Introduced multiple criteria for distribution among provinces (previously based solely on population), adding factors such as poverty/backwardness, revenue generation/collection, and inverse population density — a long-standing demand of Balochistan, KP, and Sindh.
  • Balochistan's share was increased disproportionately to reflect its low population but large area/resource base.
• Widely seen as the most equitable NFC Award in Pakistan's history, and a complement to the 18th Amendment's provincial autonomy push.

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VIII. Renaming NWFP to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (2010)

• A long-standing demand of Pashtun nationalist parties (ANP), formally enacted through the 18th Amendment.
• Some opposition from Hazara-based groups in the province, who felt it did not reflect their own identity, leading to protests in Abbottabad and Haripur.

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IX. The War Against Militancy: Swat & South Waziristan

Swat Operation (2009)

• Background: a peace deal (Nizam-e-Adl Regulation, February 2009) had allowed Sharia courts in Swat in an attempt to appease Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) militants led by Sufi Muhammad, father-in-law of Mullah Fazlullah.
• The deal collapsed as militants advanced into Buner, threatening to move toward Islamabad.
• Operation Rah-e-Rast (May–July 2009): the Pakistan Army launched a major offensive to clear Swat of militants, resulting in the displacement of nearly 2 million people (one of the largest internal displacement crises in the world at the time).
• The operation was largely successful in restoring state control over Swat.

South Waziristan Operation (2009)

• Operation Rah-e-Nijat (October 2009): targeted Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) strongholds in South Waziristan, following a wave of terrorist attacks across Pakistan (including the GHQ attack, October 2009).
• Significantly degraded TTP's organisational capacity in the short term, though militancy persisted in other tribal areas.

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X. The 2010 Floods

• July–September 2010: Pakistan experienced its worst floods in recorded history, triggered by unprecedented monsoon rainfall.
• Impact:
  • Affected an estimated 20 million people — more than the combined total affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, 2005 Kashmir earthquake, and 2010 Haiti earthquake.
  • Nearly one-fifth of Pakistan's total land area was submerged at the flood's peak.
  • Massive damage to infrastructure, agriculture (especially cotton and other crops), and housing.
• Government response was widely criticised as slow and poorly coordinated; President Zardari's overseas trip during the early days of the crisis drew significant domestic criticism.
• Led to renewed debate on disaster management capacity and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)'s effectiveness.

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XI. The Memogate Scandal (2011–12)

• Background: in the aftermath of the May 2011 Osama bin Laden raid in Abbottabad (which embarrassed Pakistan's military/intelligence establishment), a secret memo was allegedly sent to US Admiral Mike Mullen, seeking US help to prevent a feared military coup in Pakistan, in exchange for concessions on Pakistan's security establishment.
• Husain Haqqani, then Pakistan's Ambassador to the US, was accused of drafting/facilitating the memo (allegedly at the behest of elements close to Zardari), based on claims by Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz.
• Haqqani resigned as ambassador amid the controversy.
• The Supreme Court set up a judicial commission to investigate; the affair deepened tensions between the PPP government, the military, and the judiciary, and became a symbol of fraught civil–military relations during this period.

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XII. Contempt of Court Case & Gillani's Disqualification (2012)

• Stemming from the NRO verdict (2009), the Supreme Court repeatedly directed PM Gillani's government to write to Swiss authorities to reopen the money-laundering case against President Zardari.
• Gillani refused, citing presidential immunity under the Constitution.
• 26 April 2012: the Supreme Court convicted Gillani of contempt of court, giving him a symbolic sentence (till the rising of the court).
• 19 June 2012: the Supreme Court retroactively disqualified Gillani as a member of the National Assembly (and hence as PM) from the date of his conviction, ruling he was no longer qualified under Articles 62/63.
• Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was subsequently elected PM (June 2012), becoming the third PPP-era Prime Minister of this tenure.
• This episode is a landmark case study in judiciary–executive relations in Pakistan.

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XIII. Other Notable Events

Raymond Davis Affair (January 2011)

• A CIA contractor, Raymond Davis, shot and killed two Pakistani men in Lahore, claiming self-defence, sparking a major diplomatic crisis and public outrage over US personnel operating in Pakistan.
• Resolved after "blood money" (diyat) was paid to the victims' families under Pakistani law (see the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance, covered in the Zia-era Islamisation notes), and Davis was released and left Pakistan — controversial and criticised domestically.

The Abbottabad Raid (2 May 2011)

• US Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden in a unilateral raid in Abbottabad, close to Pakistan's premier military academy (PMA Kakul).
• Raised serious questions about Pakistan's sovereignty (the US did not inform Pakistan in advance) and about how bin Laden had evaded detection for years — leading to the Abbottabad Commission, whose report was never officially released in full.
• Severely strained US–Pakistan relations and became a major embarrassment for the military/intelligence establishment.

Salmaan Taseer & Shahbaz Bhatti assassinations (2011)

• Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer was assassinated in January 2011 by his own bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri, over Taseer's criticism of the blasphemy laws and his support for Aasia Bibi.
• Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, also a critic of the blasphemy laws, was assassinated in March 2011.
• Both incidents highlighted rising religious extremism and intolerance in Pakistani society during this period.

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XIV. Economy Under PPP (2008–2013)

• Inherited a fragile economy from the outgoing Musharraf government, worsened by the global financial crisis (2008) and rising oil/commodity prices.
• 2008: Pakistan approached the IMF for a Stand-By Arrangement (about $7.6 billion) to avert a balance-of-payments crisis.
• Circular debt in the energy sector became a chronic and worsening problem, leading to severe electricity load-shedding ("loadshedding") throughout this tenure — a major public grievance and a central issue in the 2013 election campaign.
• GDP growth slowed to an average of roughly 2.5–3% per year over the tenure — well below the Musharraf-era average — due to the combination of the security situation, energy crisis, floods, and global slowdown.
• Inflation remained persistently high for much of the period.
• Some positive measures: the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), launched in 2008, became Pakistan's largest social safety net programme, providing cash transfers to poor households (predominantly women).

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XV. End of Term: the 2013 Transition

• Despite immense political pressure, judicial confrontation, and security crises, the PPP-led coalition completed its full 5-year term — a first in Pakistan's history for a civilian government.
• March 2013: the National Assembly completed its term, and a caretaker government (under the mechanism refined by the 20th Amendment) was installed to conduct elections.
• 11 May 2013: general elections held, resulting in a PML-N victory and Nawaz Sharif's third term as PM — marking Pakistan's first-ever peaceful, constitutional transfer of power from one democratically elected civilian government to another.

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📊 Key Figures at a Glance

🗓️ Timeline

• 27 Dec 2007: Benazir Bhutto assassinated.
• 18 Feb 2008: general election.
• 25 Mar 2008: Gillani becomes PM.
• Aug 2008: Musharraf resigns.
• 6 Sep 2008: Zardari becomes President.
• Feb 2009: Nizam-e-Adl Regulation (Swat peace deal).
• 16 Mar 2009: judges restored after Long March.
• May–Jul 2009: Operation Rah-e-Rast (Swat).
• Oct 2009: Operation Rah-e-Nijat (South Waziristan); GHQ attack.
• 16 Dec 2009: NRO declared void.
• 19 Apr 2010: 18th Amendment assented.
• 2010: NWFP renamed KP; NFC Award implemented.
• Jul–Sep 2010: catastrophic floods.
• Jan 2011: Raymond Davis affair; Salmaan Taseer assassinated.
• Mar 2011: Shahbaz Bhatti assassinated.
• 2 May 2011: Osama bin Laden killed in Abbottabad.
• Dec 2010: 19th Amendment.
• Nov 2011–early 2012: Memogate scandal.
• Feb 2012: 20th Amendment.
• 26 Apr 2012: Gillani convicted of contempt.
• 19 Jun 2012: Gillani disqualified; Raja Pervaiz Ashraf becomes PM.
• Mar 2013: NA completes full 5-year term (first time ever).
• 11 May 2013: general election; PML-N wins.

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⚠️ MCQ Traps

• The 18th Amendment received presidential assent on 19 April 2010 — the most important constitutional development of this tenure. Don't confuse it with the 19th (judicial appointments refinement, Dec 2010) or 20th (caretaker mechanism, Feb 2012).
• The 18th Amendment abolished Article 58(2)(b) and the Concurrent Legislative List, and formally renamed NWFP to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• The NRO was issued by Musharraf in 2007, not by the PPP government — but it was the PPP government under which the Supreme Court struck it down (2009).
• Gillani was PM from 2008–2012; Raja Pervaiz Ashraf completed the tenure from 2012–2013 — there were two PPP-era Prime Ministers in this tenure, not one.
• The 7th NFC Award (2009) raised the provinces' combined share to 57.5% and introduced multiple criteria beyond population.
• Operation Rah-e-Rast = Swat (2009); Operation Rah-e-Nijat = South Waziristan (2009) — don't mix up the two codenames.
• The 2013 election marked Pakistan's first-ever peaceful civilian-to-civilian democratic transition, distinct from the earlier claim about PPP completing its first full term (both facts are true and often tested together).

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✍️ Model Answer Outline

Q. Discuss the salient achievements and challenges of the PPP government (2008–2013).

1. Introduction: post-Benazir sympathy mandate; historic first full-term civilian government.
2. Achievements:
   • 18th Amendment (parliamentary supremacy, provincial autonomy)
   • NFC Award 2009 (fiscal decentralisation)
   • Restoration of judiciary (though this became double-edged)
   • BISP and social safety nets
   • Successful military operations in Swat and South Waziristan.
3. Challenges:
   • NRO controversy and its fallout
   • Persistent judiciary–executive confrontation (Gillani's disqualification)
   • Memogate and civil–military tensions
   • 2010 floods and governance criticism
   • Energy crisis, circular debt, and slow economic growth
   • Rising extremism (Taseer, Bhatti assassinations) and the Abbottabad raid's sovereignty implications.
4. Conclusion: despite the challenges, the tenure is remembered for institutionalising democratic continuity and passing landmark constitutional and fiscal reforms, even as security and economic challenges persisted.

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🧠 Self-Test Questions

1. How did PPP come to power in 2008, and who were its coalition partners?
2. What was the NRO, and why was it declared unconstitutional?
3. What triggered the 2009 Long March, and what was its outcome?
4. List five key changes brought by the 18th Amendment.
5. What were the main features of the 2009 NFC Award?
6. Why and how was NWFP renamed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa?
7. Describe the Swat and South Waziristan military operations of 2009.
8. What was the scale of the 2010 floods, and how was the government's response perceived?
9. What was the Memogate scandal, and who were the key figures involved?
10. Explain the sequence of events that led to PM Gillani's disqualification in 2012.
11. What was the significance of the Raymond Davis affair and the Abbottabad raid for Pakistan-US relations?
12. Why is the 2013 transition considered historic in Pakistan's political history?

⚡ 60-Second Revision

2008: Benazir assassinated (27 Dec 2007) → sympathy vote → PPP largest party (128) → Gillani PM (25 Mar) → Zardari President (6 Sep, 481 votes) • NRO (Musharraf 2007) struck down by SC 16 Dec 2009 • Judges restored via Long March, 16 Mar 2009 • 18th Amendment, 19 Apr 2010: abolishes 58(2)(b) + Concurrent List, restores parliamentary system, renames NWFP→KP, reforms judicial appointments, strengthens CCI/ECP • 19th Amendment (Dec 2010): judicial appointments refined • 20th Amendment (Feb 2012): caretaker mechanism • NFC Award 2009: provincial share 47.5%→57.5%, multiple criteria • Swat: Nizam-e-Adl deal collapses → Operation Rah-e-Rast (May-Jul 2009) • South Waziristan: Operation Rah-e-Nijat (Oct 2009) after GHQ attack • 2010 floods: ~20 million affected, worst in history, government criticised • 2011: Raymond Davis affair (Jan), Taseer assassinated (Jan), Bhatti assassinated (Mar), Osama bin Laden killed in Abbottabad (2 May) • Memogate scandal (late 2011-2012): Haqqani resigns • NRO fallout: Gillani held in contempt (26 Apr 2012), disqualified as PM (19 Jun 2012) → Raja Pervaiz Ashraf PM • Economy: IMF bailout 2008, circular debt/loadshedding, ~2.5-3% growth, BISP launched • Mar 2013: NA completes first-ever full term • 11 May 2013: election → PML-N wins → first peaceful civilian-to-civilian transition in Pakistan's history

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Next in sequence: the Nawaz Sharif / PML-N tenure (2013–2017/18).