Prime Minister of Pakistan

The Prime Minister (Vazir-e-Azam) of Pakistan is the Head of Government of Pakistan.

Related Topics:
Head of Government - Pakistan

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The Prime Minister is elected by the National Assembly. Members of the National Assembly are elected by popular vote. The National Assembly then elects a Prime Minister for a four year term. Most commonly, the leader of the party or coalition with the most votes becomes the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is responsible for appointing a cabinet. The President has the reserve power to remove the Prime Minister, through a dissolution of the National Assembly, triggering new elections. The Seventeenth Amendment imposed a check on this power, making it subject to Supreme Court approval or veto.

Related Topics:
National Assembly - President - Reserve power - Seventeenth Amendment - Check - Veto

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The office of Prime Minister did not exist during three periods of Pakistan's history, a circumstance different from a vacancy in the office, as a result of the dismissal of an individual Prime Minister by the President. In the first two cases, Pakistan had no Prime Minister from October 7, 1958 until July 3, 1972, and from from July 5, 1977 until March 24, 1985 — periods of martial law. During these periods, the President, who was the chief martial law administrator, effectively had the powers of Prime Minister as the head of government, without the title of Prime Minister. In the third case, after the coup of Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan did not have a Prime Minister from October 12, 1999 to November 20, 2002. During this time, Musharraf, holding the office of Chief Executive, was effectively the Head of Government.

Related Topics:
Martial law - Martial law administrator - Pervez Musharraf - Head of Government

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Shaukat Aziz is the current Prime Minister of Pakistan. He was elected by the National Assembly on August 28, 2004, by a vote of 191 to 151 in the National Assembly.

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