The political framework of Pakistan

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders: President: Arif ALVI (since 9 September 2018)
Prime Minister: Anwaar-ul-Haq KAKAR (since 14 August 2023)
Next Election Dates: Presidential: March 2024
Senate: March 2024
National Assembly: 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 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
- Pakistan Muslim League (PMLQ): centre-right
- Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI): centre-left
- Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM): self-proclaimed liberal
- Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA): far-right
- Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam (JUI-F): 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: The legislature in Pakistan is bicameral. The parliament consists of the Senate (the upper house) having 100 seats, with its members indirectly elected by provincial assemblies to serve six-year terms; and the National Assembly (the lower house) having 342 seats, with its members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms (of which 272 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 70 members - 60 women and 10 non-Muslims - directly elected by proportional representation vote). The President can be impeached and removed from his office by a two-thirds majority vote of the National Assembly, but the Constitution of the country also grants the President the unique power to dissolve the National Assembly and also to dismiss the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister cannot dissolve the parliament.

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

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

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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