In Pakistan’s 75-year history, no prime minister has served a full five-year term – a trend that grew with the removal of Imran Khan, who lost the no-confidence vote on Sunday.
To that end, Pakistan, which has been a parliamentary democracy for most of its history, has had a total of 29 prime ministers since 1947 – one of whom served twice a year.
On 18 occasions, he has been removed on various pretexts, including corruption charges, direct military coups and forced resignations due to infighting within ruling groups. There was a murder.
The remaining prime ministers held office for a limited time as caretakers to oversee new elections or to oversee the term of a dismissed prime minister.
The year 1993 was particularly horrific, with five changes to the premiership.
The shortest term of a prime minister is two weeks, while the longest term is of four years and two months.
Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has been elected prime minister three times – in 1990, 1997 and 2013 – the most times for a single candidate.
The following is a list of prime ministers whose term has expired since 1947. It does not include acting premiers or other prime ministers serving the term of:
Liaquat Ali Khan. First Prime Minister of Pakistan. He took office in August 1947. He was assassinated on 16 October 1951 at a political rally.
Tenure: Four years and two months.
-Khwaja Nazimuddin. He assumed office on October 17, 1951. He was sacked by the country’s governor general on April 17, 1953 – a powerful position inherited from British colonial rule – on charges of mismanagement of religious riots.
Tenure: One year six months.
Muhammad Ali Bogra assumed office on April 17, 1953. Resigned on August 11, 1955.
Tenure: Two years and three months.
-Chowdhary Muhammad Ali. He took office in August 1955. He was ousted on 12 September 1956 due to internal differences in the ruling party.
Tenure: One year and one month.
Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy. He assumed office on 12 September 1956. He was forcibly removed from office on October 18, 1957 after differences with other Shakti Kendras.
Tenure: One year and one month.
– Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar. Took office in October 1957. Resigned on 16 December 1957, faced a no-confidence vote in Parliament.
Tenure: Less than two months.
– Malik Firoz Khan Afternoon. He assumed office on December 16, 1957. He was dismissed on 7 October 1958 due to the imposition of martial law in Pakistan.
Tenure: Less than 10 months.
– Nurul Amin. He assumed office on December 7, 1971. He left office on December 20, 1971, soon after the separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan.
Tenure: Less than two weeks.
– Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He assumed office on 14 August 1973. He was overthrown by a military coup on July 5, 1977, and eventually imprisoned and executed.
Tenure: Three years and 11 months.
– Muhammad Khan Junejo. assumed office in March 1985. He was dismissed on May 29, 1988 by the military chief, who was also the president.
Tenure: Three years and two months.
– Benazir Bhutto. Daughter of slain Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the first woman leader of a Muslim nation. He assumed office on December 2, 1988. His government was dismissed on August 6, 1990 by the president, a close aid of the deceased military ruler, on charges of corruption.
Tenure: One year eight months.
It would be the first of three governments dismissed on similar charges using the broad powers of the president.
– Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. He assumed office on November 6, 1990. His government was also dismissed by the President on April 18, 1993, on similar charges as Bhutto.
He was able to overturn the decision by the courts a few weeks later and returned to office, but resigned again after differences with the military.
Total tenure: Two years and seven months.
– Benazir Bhutto. Returned to power for her second term on 19 October 1993. On November 5, 1996, he was once again dismissed by the President on charges of misgovernance.
Tenure: Just over three years.
Nawaz Sharif. Came to power for the second time on February 17, 1997. Was overthrown by a military coup – the third in Pakistan’s history – on October 12, 1999.
Tenure: Two years eight months.
-Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali. Elected Prime Minister in November 2002 during military rule. He resigned on June 26, 2004, following differences with the military.
Tenure: One year seven months.
Yusuf Raza Gilani. Elected Prime Minister on March 25, 2008. He was disqualified by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2012 on charges of “contempt of court”.
Tenure: Four years and one month.
Nawaz Sharif. Elected Prime Minister for the third time on June 5, 2013. He was sacked by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on July 28, 2017 for hiding assets.
Tenure: Four years and two months.
– Imran Khan. Elected as Prime Minister on August 18, 2018. On April 10, 2022, he was voted out of power through a motion of no confidence by the opposition.
Tenure: Three years seven months.
(with inputs from Reuters)
read all Breaking News , today’s fresh news And IPL 2022 Live Updates Here.