West Pakistan - Government

Government

West Pakistan went through many political changes, and had a multiple political party system. West Pakistan's political system had consisted popular influential Left-wing sphere against elite Right-wing circles. Since the independence, West Pakistan was a parliamentary republic (even as of today, the parliamentary system is the official form of government of Pakistan) with Prime minister as the head of the government and President as head of state, although Presidential office is ceremonial office. The 1956 Constitution provided the country with Semi-Presidential system and the office of President was inaugurated the same year. The career civil service officer Major-General (retired) Iskander Mirza became the country's first President, but the system did not evolved for more than the three years, when Mirza imposed the martial law in 1958. Mirza appointed army commander General Ayub Khan as Chief martial law administrator who later turned his back on President and exiled the president to Great Britain after the military government was installed.

The office of Governor of West Pakistan was a largely ceremonial position but later Governors wielded some executive powers as well. The first Governor was Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani, who was also the last Governor of West Punjab. Ayub Khan abolished the Governor's office and instead established the Martial Law Administrator of West Pakistan (MLA West).

The office Chief Minister of West Pakistan was the chief executive of the state and the leader of the largest party in the provincial assembly. The first Chief Minister was Abdul Jabbar Khan who had served twice as Chief Minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province prior to independence. The office of Chief Minister was abolished in 1958 when Ayub Khan took over the administration of West Pakistan.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan was a judicial authority, a power broker in country's politics that played a major role in minimizing the role of West Pakistan parliament. The Supreme Court was moved to Islamabad in 1965 and Chief Justice Alvin Robert Cornelius re-located the entire judicial arbiter, personnel and high-profile cases in Islamabad. The Supreme Court building is one of the most attractive places in Islamabad, yet the most largely beautiful building in the state capital.

This provisional parliament had no lasting effects of West Pakistan's affairs but it was a ceremonial legislature where the law makers would gather around to discuss non-political matters. In 1965, the legislative parliament was moved to Islamabad after Ayub Khan built a massive capitol, renaming the assembly as the Parliament of Pakistan where only technocrats occupied the building.

The twelve divisions of West Pakistan province were Bahawalpur, Dera Ismail Khan, Hyderabad, Kalat, Khairpur, Lahore, Malakand, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi, and Sargodha; all named after their capitals except the capital of Malakand was Saidu, and Rawalpindi was administered from Islamabad. The province also incorporated the former Omani enclave of Gwadar following its purchase in 1958, and the former Federal Capital Territory (Karachi) in 1961; the latter forming a new division in its own right.

In 1970, the Martial law office was dissolved by General Yahya Khan who disestablished the state of West Pakistan. On July 1, 1970, the provisional assemblies of Balochistan, Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Office of Prime minister, and much of the civil institutions were revived and re-established by the decree signed by General Yahya Khan. The four provinces and four administrative units retained their current status and local governments were constitutionally established in 1970 to manage and administer the provisional autonomy given to the provinces in 1970.