At a Glance:
Year became a federation: 1956
Current constitution in force since: 1973
Head of State: President
Head of Government: Prime Minister
Lower House: National Assembly
Our work in Pakistan
In 2001, Forum experts Ronald Watts and Francois Vaillancourt produced reports on federalism-related subjects in Pakistan with support from Great Britain’s Department for International Development, the Canadian International Development Agency and the World Bank. In 2009, the German Foreign Office granted the Forum a 2.5-year program to facilitate and enhance dialogue between the provinces and the central government, and to reduce tensions among the provinces.
Federalism in Pakistan
The largest federal challenge for Pakistan, a geographically and demographically diverse nation, is to empower its provinces and tribal areas while maintaining a united federal republic. Today, Pakistan’s political and military leaders are being tested by terror attacks, many by insurgents based near the Afghanistan border. Punjab has about 56 per cent of the population, leaving the other three provinces in a minority position, thus ruling out a unitary or even a quasi-federal state.
Pakistan has ancient roots as a socio-political entity encompassing the Indus Valley. It was brought under centralized rule for three periods, the latest by the British in 1857-1947, and became independent in 1947 with the separation of British India into the Muslim country of Pakistan and largely Hindu India. These two countries fought wars in 1947-48 and 1965 over Kashmir, which both claim.
A first constitution was adopted in 1956 and then abrogated by the military in 1958. The second was adopted in 1962, then again abrogated by the military in 1969. Pakistan’s third constitution was adopted by the first directly elected Parliament in 1973 and enshrined a federal structure.
A major development in federalism in Pakistan was the 18th Amendment to the 1973 Constitution (the constitutional reform package), which was passed unanimnously by the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, returning parliamentary powers to their original nature with more powers given to the provinces. It was approved by the Senate on April 16 and signed by President Asif Ali Zardari on April 19.
2009-2011 Pakistan-German Foreign Office: The German Foreign Office has granted the Forum $3,579,783 CAD over the years 2009, 2010 and 2011 to facilitate and enhance dialogue between the provinces in Pakistan and the central government, and conflicts among the provinces. With its partner organization, the Centre for Civic Education Pakistan (CCEP), the Forum will work to strengthen the capacities of key government institutions of intergovernmental relations to develop and implement policies for successful management and resolutions of centre-province conflicts. The Forum’s work began on August 1, 2009.
* Development assistance program countries