In Pakistan, it is not uncommon for a ruling head of state to be overthrown by military, ousted by opponents/presidents and even assassinated by rivals.
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In fact, being a prime minister or president in Pakistan is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. That’s why no prime minister in the country has ever completed a full tenure in its over 75-year history.
Here’s what history tells us about the short shelf-lives of Pakistani premiers …
Tenures cut short
In its over seven decade independent history, Paksitani people have not witnessed a single prime minister complete his or her tenure in office. Imran Khan was the latest Pakistani PM whose tenure was cut short in 2022 after he lost a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly.
Pakistan, a parliamentary democracy for most of its history, has had a total of 30 prime ministers since 1947 – one of whom took on the role twice in one year. But none lasted 5 years in office.
The shortest tenure for a prime minister is two weeks, while the longest is four years and two months.
The year 1993 was particularly fraught, with premiership changing hands as many as five times.
In comparison, during the same period, India has had only 18 prime ministers and, of course, no military rulers. The only exception being 1975, when Emergency was imposed and all democratic rights were suspended in India.
Arrests, dismissals, assassinations
In the 1950s, Pakistan’s fifth prime minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was banned from politics after he refused to endorse Gen Ayub Khan’s seizure of his government. He was later arrested and put in solitary confinement. Suhrawardy was among the first Pakistani premiers to be incarcerated. But he wasn’t the last.
On 18 occasions, Pakistani PMs have been removed on different pretexts, including corruption charges, direct military coups and forced resignations due to infighting in ruling groups.
Among those who have been arrested in the past are current PM Shehbaz Sharif, former PMs Zulfiker Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and now Imran Khan.
Liaquat Ali Khan, who was the country’s first prime minister, was assassinated while in office. The remaining premiers held the position for a limited time as caretakers to oversee fresh elections or to see out a dismissed premier’s tenure
While Liaquat Ali Khan was the only PM to be assassinated in the middle of his tenure, several others were killed after exiting the office.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who served as the prime minister from Aug 1973 to July 1977, was overthrown in a military coup, arrested for conspiring to murder a political opponent and later executed.
Bhutto’s daughter Benazir Bhutto also met a similar fate decades later. Two two-time Pakistani PM was dismissed by the president on two occassions, first in 1990 and then in 1996. She was also arrested on more than one occassions while not in power. In 2007, she was assassinated in a gun and bomb attack during an election rally in Rawalpindi.
Military ruler President Mohammad Zia ul-Haq was killed when the Hercules C-130 aircraft carrying him crashes in mysterious circumstances. Conspiracy theorists have suggested a case of mangoes put aboard the plane shortly before takeoff contained a timer device that released gas that knocked out the cockpit crew.
Recently, Imran Khan escaped an assassination attempt during his rally in November 2022. He has warned his supporters that there will be more such attempts on his life in the future.
Altogether, as many as 45 Pakistani politicians have been killed in the country’s short 75-year history.
History of coups
Though Pakistan is constitutionally a democratic parliamentary republic, the military has been in charge for nearly half of its history.
Since 1947, Pakistan has been ruled by four different military rulers under three different military coups (1958-71, 1977-88 and 1999-2008).
Pakistan first came under military rule in 1958 when General Ayub Khan seized the presidency from Iskander Mirza. Officially, martial law lasted 44 months, but Ayub Khan left office only in 1969 and named General Yahya Khan as his successor.
Like Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan was the chief martial law administrator. After an embarrassing loss to India in the 1971 war, Yahya Khan was forced to name Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who won the nation’s first general elections, as his successor.
The second military coup took place in 1977 when General Zia ul Haq dissolved the parliament and placed Bhutto under house arrest. He resigned in 1985 after picking Muhammad Khan Junejo as the country’s new prime minister. Haq continued as President till his death in a plane crash in 1988.
The third and last military coup took place in 1999 when General Pervez Musharraf ousted Nawaz Sharif, who was facing criticism for retreating from Kargil. Musharraf resigned in 2008 with Asif Ali Zardari becoming the new president.
(With inputs from agencies)