Pakistan flag Pakistan: Economic and Political Overview

The political framework of Pakistan

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
President: Asif Ali ZARDARI (since 10 March 2024)
Prime Minister: Shahbaz SHARIF (since 3 March 2024)
Next Election Dates
Presidential: 2029
Senate: March 2027
National Assembly: February 2029
Main Political Parties
Pakistan has a multi-party system in which no party has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties work with each other to form coalition governments to direct the National Assembly. Political alliances in Pakistan shift very frequently. Some of the major political parties in the country are:

- Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz PML-N): centre-right, conservative liberal
- Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI): centre-left-, Islamic democracy, main opposition party
- Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM): self-proclaimed liberal
- Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP): a mainstream political party derived out of the Pakistan People's Party
- Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC): right-wing, a political alliance of Islamic political and Barelvi religious parties
- Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA): big-tent, regional political coalition of seven Sindh-based political parties
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F): far-right
- Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP): spit from PTI
- Pakistan Muslim League (PMLQ): centre-right
- Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC): right-wing political alliance of Islamic political and Barelvi religious parties
- Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA): far-right
- Jamaat-e Islami Pakistan (JI): far-right
- Awami National Party (ANP): democratic socialism
- Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP)
- Awami Workers Party (AWP): left-wing
- Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP): far right.

Executive Power
The President is the chief of state and is elected by an Electoral College composed of the members of the Senate, the National Assembly and the provincial assemblies, for a five-year term. The President is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The President is supposed to have a largely ceremonial role; however, Presidents with an army background have played an influential role in mainstream politics throughout Pakistan's history. The Prime Minister is elected by the lower house of the parliament through a vote for a five-year term. The Prime Minister is the head of the government and enjoys the executive powers which include implementation of the law and running the day-to-day affairs of the country. The council of ministers (cabinet) is appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Legislative Power

Pakistan has a bicameral legislature, consisting of the Senate (upper house) and the National Assembly (lower house). The Senate has 100 seats, with members indirectly elected by provincial assemblies and other electoral colleges to serve six-year terms, with elections held every three years for half of the seats. The National Assembly consists of 342 seats, of which 272 members are directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote, while the remaining 70 seats—60 reserved for women and 10 for non-Muslims—are allocated through proportional representation among parties securing more than 5% of the vote.

The President can be impeached and removed from office by a two-thirds majority vote in a joint session of both Houses of Parliament. While the President has the authority to dissolve the National Assembly, this power is exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister. The President does not have the power to unilaterally dismiss the Prime Minister, who can only be removed through a vote of no-confidence in the National Assembly. The Prime Minister, as head of government, cannot independently dissolve Parliament but can recommend its dissolution to the President.

 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:
145/180
Evolution:
145/180
 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:
Partly Free
Political Freedom:
5/7
Civil Liberties:
22/60

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

 

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Latest Update: May 2025