List of prime ministers of Pakistan

  • Top left: Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistan's first ever prime minister after its foundation.
  • Top right: Benazir Bhutto served as the first and only female prime minister of Pakistan.
  • Bottom left: Imran Khan, 22nd prime minister and a popular figure in the modern period.
  • Bottom right: Shehbaz Sharif is the incumbent prime minister of Pakistan.

The prime minister of Pakistan (Urdu: وزير اعظم, romanizedWazīr ē Aʿẓam, lit.'Grand Vizier', Urdu pronunciation: [ʋəˈziːɾˌeː ˈɑː.zəm]) is the popularly elected politician who is the chief executive of the Government of Pakistan.[1] The prime minister is vested with the responsibility of running the administration through his appointed federal cabinet, formulating national policies to ensure the safeguard of the interests of the nation and its people through the Council of Common Interests as well as making the decision to call nationwide general elections for the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan.[2][3][4]

Since 1947, Pakistan has had eighteen prime ministers, aside from the appointed caretaker prime ministers who were only mandated to oversee the system until the election process was finished. In Pakistan's parliamentary system, the prime minister is sworn in by the president and usually is the chairman or the president of the party or coalition that has a majority in the National Assembly– the lower house of Pakistan Parliament.

After the partition of British India on the midnight of 14/15 August 1947, Pakistan followed the British system by creating the post of prime minister based at the Prime Minister's Secretariat.[3][4] The then governor-general of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, took advice from the Founding Fathers of the nation and appointed Liaquat Ali Khan to establish and lead his administration on 15 August 1947.[5] Before the presidential system in 1960, seven prime ministers had served between 1947 until martial law in 1958. In 1971, the office was again revived but ceased to exist shortly.[6][7] Executive powers and authority was given to the prime minister when the full set of the Constitution of Pakistan was promulgated in 1973 but the post was ceased from its effective operations after another martial law in 1977.[8][9] After the general elections held in 1985, the office came to its existence.[6] Between 1988 and 1999, the office was held by Benazir Bhutto of the PPP and Nawaz Sharif of PML(N), each holding the office for two non-consecutive terms between 1988 and 1999: Bhutto during 1988–90 and 1993–96;[10] and Sharif during 1990–93 and 1997–99.[11][12]

After the general elections held in 2002, Zafarullah Khan Jamali was invited to form his administration as its prime minister.[13] After the Supreme Court of Pakistan's ruling to disqualify Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani in 2012, the business of his administration was looked after by Raja Pervez Ashraf until the caretaker administration was setup under Mir Hazar Khan Khoso.[14][15][3][4]

Nurul Amin of the Muslim League had the shortest term, at 13 days. Yousaf Raza Gilani of PPP had the longest consecutive term of 4 years and 86 days. At approximately 9 years and 215 days in total, Nawaz Sharif of PML (N) has been the longest-serving prime minister for a non-consecutive term.[3][16] Sharif was re-elected for a third non-consecutive term on 5 June 2013, which is a record in the history of Pakistan.[17][18] No prime minister of Pakistan has yet served their full five year term.[19]

  1. ^ Article 153(2a)-153(2c) Archived 27 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine in Chapter 3: Special Provisions, Part V: Relations between Federation and Provinces in the Constitution of Pakistan.
  2. ^ "Prime minister". BBC News. 16 October 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d Tasleem, Nauman (27 June 2004). "20 prime ministers since independence". Daily Times. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  4. ^ a b c "Prime ministers". World Statesmen. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  5. ^ Mughal, M Yakub. "Special Edition (Liaqat Ali Khan)". The News International. Daily Jang. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  6. ^ a b "Parliamentary history". National Assembly of Pakistan. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  7. ^ Nagendra Kr. Singh (2003). Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh. Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd. pp. 9–10. ISBN 978-81-261-1390-3.
  8. ^ "The constitution of the islamic republic of pakistan" (PDF). National Assembly of Pakistan. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 September 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  9. ^ Pakistan: Zia and After. Abhinav Publications. 1989. pp. 20–35. ISBN 978-81-7017-253-6. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
  10. ^ "Obituary: Benazir Bhutto". BBC News. 27 December 2007. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  11. ^ "Profile: Nawaz Sharif". BBC News. 11 December 2000. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  12. ^ Akbar, M.K (January 1998). "Pakistan under Nawaz Sharif". Pakistan Today. New Delhi, India: Mittal Publications. p. 230. ISBN 81-7099-700-3. Archived from the original on 26 May 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  13. ^ "Profile: Zafarullah Khan Jamali". BBC News. 26 June 2004. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  14. ^ Rebecca Santana; Chris Brummitt; Zarar Khan (22 June 2012). "Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Is Pakistan's New Prime Minister". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  15. ^ "Yousuf Raza Gilani is sent packing". Dawn. Herald. 19 June 2012. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  16. ^ "World: South Asia: Pakistan army seizes power". BBC News. 12 October 1999. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  17. ^ "Nawaz Sharif calls for an end to US drone strikes". BBC News. 5 June 2013. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  18. ^ Nangiana, Umer (6 June 2013). "Unprecedented return: He is back". The Express Tribune. Agence France-Presse (AFP). Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  19. ^ "No Pakistani prime minister has completed a full term in office". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 10 April 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2022.

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