Political History of Pakistan

Explore by period

• 1947–1958: state formation, constitution-making and parliamentary instability.
• 1958–1971: Ayub Khan, the 1962 Constitution, regional inequality and the 1970 election crisis.
• 1971–1977: reconstruction, the 1973 Constitution and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government.
• 1977–1988: General Zia-ul-Haq, constitutional restructuring and non-party elections.
• 1988–1999: competitive elected politics, repeated dismissals and alternating PPP/PML-N governments.
• 1999–2008: General Pervez Musharraf, the 2002 election and controlled transition.
• 2008–2018: renewed parliamentary rule, the Eighteenth Amendment and two civilian transfers.
• 2018 onward: PTI government, the 2022 no-confidence vote and fragmented post-2024 politics.

Start with landmark events

• The 1970 general election
• Constitutional development in Pakistan
• How the 2022 no-confidence mechanism worked