Pakistan

B

Legislature

Under the constitution, legislative power is vested in the bicameral Federal Legislature. The National Assembly (lower house) has 342 seats; 60 of these seats are reserved for women and 10 are reserved for non-Muslims on a basis of proportional representation. Members of the National Assembly are directly elected for four-year terms. The Senate (upper house) has 100 seats; senators are elected indirectly by the provincial and national legislatures for five-year terms.

C

Judiciary

The highest court in Pakistan is the Supreme Court. The judicial system in each province is headed by a high court. There is also a federal Sharia Court, which hears cases that primarily involve Sharia, or Islamic law. Legislation enacted in 1991 gave legal status to Sharia. Although Sharia was declared the law of the land, it did not replace the existing legal code.

D

Local Government

According to the constitution, Pakistan is a federation. The country is divided into four autonomous (self-governing) provinces; two federally administered areas; and the Islāmābād Capital Territory, which consists of the capital city of Islāmābād.

The four provinces are Baluchistan, the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Punjab, and Sind. The provinces are headed by governors appointed by the president. Under the constitution, each province has a directly elected provincial assembly headed by a chief minister. However, the provincial assemblies were suspended following the 1999 military coup.

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The Islāmābād Capital Territory, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and the Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA) are under the jurisdiction of the federal government. In the FATA, however, tribal leaders manage most internal affairs. Azad (Free) Kashmīr has a separate and autonomous government but maintains strong ties to Pakistan. Control of the territory included within FANA and Azad Kashmīr is a matter of dispute between Pakistan and India (see Jammu and Kashmīr).

E

Political Parties

Pakistan’s founding nationalist party, the Muslim League, dissolved after martial law was imposed in 1958. The Pakistan Muslim League (PML) founded in 1962 bore little resemblance to the original party. The PML subsequently splintered into several factions. In 1967 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto formed the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to oppose the regime of Muhammad Ayub Khan. In the aftermath of the military coup of 1977, political parties were banned from 1979 until civilian rule was restored in 1985. Although political parties were not banned after the military coup of 1999, they could not participate in government because the national and provincial assemblies were dissolved. In 2002 these legislative bodies were restored following multiparty elections.

F

Health and Welfare

Health services in Pakistan are limited by a lack of facilities. In 2004 the country had one physician for every 1,353 people and one hospital bed for every 1,429 people. In 1976 an old-age pension system was inaugurated, but it covers relatively few Pakistanis.

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