Government of Pakistan

Government of Pakistan
حکومتِ پاکستان

State emblem of Pakistan
Type	Federal government
Formation	14 August 1947; 76 years ago (1947-08-14)
Current constitution	1973 Pakistani Constitution
Country	Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Seat of government	Islamabad
Official languages	Urdu
Website	Official Website
Legislative branch
Legislature	Parliament
Upper house	Senate
Upper House Presiding officer	Chairman of the Senate
Lower house	National Assembly
Lower House Presiding officer	Speaker of the National Assembly
Meeting place	Parliament House
Executive branch
Head of state	President of Pakistan
Head of government	Prime Minister of Pakistan
Principal organ	Cabinet
Meeting place	Cabinet Secretariat
Ministries	varies
Responsible to	Parliament
Judicial branch
Court	Supreme Court of Pakistan
Chief judge	Chief Justice of Pakistan

The Government of Pakistan (Urdu: حکومتِ پاکستان, romanized: Hakūmat-e-Pākistān; abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government (Urdu: وفاقی حکومت), commonly known as the Centre (Urdu: مرکز), is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal parliamentary republic consisting of four provinces, two autonomous territories and one federal territory.

Under the Constitution, there are three primary branches of a government: the legislative, whose powers are vested in a bicameral Parliament; the executive, consisting of the President, aided by the Cabinet which is headed by the Prime Minister; and the judiciary, with the Supreme Court.^[1]

Effecting the Westminster system for governing the state, the government is mainly composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, in which all powers are vested by the Constitution in the Parliament, the Prime Minister and the Supreme Court.^[2] The powers and duties of these branches are further defined by acts and amendments of the Parliament, including the creation of executive institutions, departments and courts inferior to the Supreme Court.^[2] By constitutional powers, the President promulgates ordinances and passes bills.

The President acts as the ceremonial figurehead while the people-elected Prime Minister acts as the Chief Executive (of the executive branch) and is responsible for running the federal government. There is a bicameral Parliament with the National Assembly as a Lower house and the Senate as an upper house. The most influential officials in the Government of Pakistan are considered to be the Federal Secretaries, who are the highest ranking bureaucrats in the country and run cabinet-level ministries and divisions. The judicial branch systematically contains an apex Supreme Court, Federal Shariat Court, High courts of five provinces, district, anti-terrorism, and the green courts; all inferior to the Supreme Court.^[2]

The full name of the country is the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. No other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name that appears on money, in treaties, and in legal cases. The "Pakistan Government" or "Government of Pakistan" are often used in official documents representing the federal government collectively.^[2] Also, the terms "Federal" and "National" in government institutions or program names generally indicate affiliation with the federal government. As the seat of government is in Islamabad, "Islamabad" is commonly used as a metonym for the federal government.^[2][3][4]