Government & politics — Pakistan

Pakistan Day (also referred to as Pakistan Resolution Day or Republic Day), 23 March (1940); note - commemorates both the adoption of the Lahore Resolution by the All-India Muslim League during its 22-24 March 1940 session, which called for the creation of independent Muslim states, and the adoption of the first constitution of Pakistan on 23 March 1956 during the transition to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

• history: several previous; latest endorsed 12 April 1973, passed 19 April 1973, entered into force 14
• August 1973 (suspended and restored several times) amendments: proposed by the Senate or by the National Assembly; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote of both houses; amended many times, last in 2018

• chief of state: Presid
• Prime Minister Shahbaz SHARIF (since 3 March 2024) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on
• the advice of the prime minister election/appointment process: president indirectly elected for a 5-year term (limited to 2 consecutive terms) by the Electoral College, which consists of members of the Senate, National Assembly,
• and provincial assemblies most recent election date: 9
• March 2024 election results: 2024: Asif Ali ZARDARI elected president; National Assembly vote - Asif Ali ZARDARI (PPP) 411 votes, Mehmood Khan ACHAKZALI (PMAP) 181 votes; Shahbaz SHARIF elected prime minister; National Assembly vote - Shahbaz SHARIF (PML-N) 201,
• Omar AYUB (PTI) 92 2018: Arif ALVI elected president; Electoral College vote - Arif ALVI (PTI) 352, Fazl-ur-REHMAN (MMA) 184, Aitzaz AHSAN (PPP) 124; Imran KHAN elected prime minister; National Assembly vote - Imran KHAN (PTI) 176,
• Shehbaz SHARIF (PML-N) 96 expected date of next election: 2029

Description

• bicameral Parliament or Majlis-e-Shoora consists of: Senate (104 seats current, reduced by 4 seats at the 2024 election and 4 at the 2027 election; members indirectly elected by the 4 provincial assemblies and the federal capital territory indirectly elected by the National Assembly using proportional representation vote; members serve 6-year terms with one-half of the membership renewed every 3 years)
• National Assembly (342 seats; 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; all members serve 5-year terms)
• elections:
• Senate - last held on 2 April 2024 for 37 of 48 seats, remaining 11 seats to be held on 9 April 2024 (next to be held for 48 seats in 2027)
• National Assembly - last held on 8 February 2024 (next to be held in 2029)
• election results:
• Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA
• National Assembly - percent of votes by party - NA; seats by party - PML-N 75, PPP 54, MQM-P 17, JUI-F 4, Pakistan Muslim League 3, Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party 2, BNP-A 2, BAP 1, PMAP 1, PML-Z 1, NP 1, independent (PTI-backed) 101, other 8, vacant 2 (excludes 70 seats reserved for women and non-Muslims);

Composition

NA

Note

• in May 2018, the Parliament of Pakistan and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly passed a constitutional amendment to merge the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas with the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
• the amendment will reduce the Senate from 104 to 96 members - 4 in the 2024 election and 4 in the 2027 election

• highest court(s): Supreme Court of Pakistan (consists of the ch
• ief justice and 16 judges) judge selection and term of office: justices nominated by an 8-member parliamentary committee upon the recommendation of the Judicial Commission, a 9-member body of judges and other judicial professionals, and appointed by the president;
• justices can serve until age 65 subordinate courts: High Courts; Federal Shariat Court; provincial and district civil and criminal courts; specialized courts for issues, such as taxation, banking, and customs

Summary

4 provinces, 2 Pakistan-administered areas*, and 1 capital territory**

Regions or States

• Azad Kashmir*
• Balochistan
• Gilgit-Baltistan*
• Islamabad Capital Territory**
• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
• Punjab
• Sindh

• Awami National Party or ANP [Asfandyar Wali KHAN]
• Awami Muslim League or AML [Sheikh Rashid AHMED]
• Balochistan Awami Party or BAP [Abdul Quddus BIZENJO]
• Balochistan National Party-Awami or BNP-A [Mir Israrullah ZEHRI]
• Balochistan National Party-Mengal or BNP-M [Sardar Akhtar Jan MENGAL]
• Grand Democratic Alliance or GDA [Pir PAGARO] (alliance of several parties)
• Hazara Democratic Party or HDP [Abdul Khaliq HAZARA]
• Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party [Jahangir TAREEN]
• Jamaat-e-Islami or JI [Siraj-ul-HAQ]
• Jamhoori Wattan Party or JWP [Nawabzada Shahzain BUGTI]
• Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl or JUI-F [Maulana Fazal-ur-REHMAN]
• Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Pakistan or MWM [Raja Nasir ABBAS]
• Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal or MMA [Maulana Fazal-ur-REHMAN] (alliance of several parties)
• Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan or MQM-P [Khalid Maqbool SIDDIQUI]
• National Party or NP [Abdul Malik BALOCH]
• Pakistan Muslim League or PML-Z (Zia-ul-Haq Shaheed)
• Pakistan Muslim League-Functional or PML-F [Pir PAGARO]
• Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz or PML-N [Shehbaz SHARIF]
• Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam or PML-Q [Chaudhry Shujaat HUSSAIN]
• Pakistan Peoples Party or PPP [Bilawal BHUTTO ZARDARI, Asif Ali ZARDARI]
• Pakistan Rah-e-Haq Party or PRHP [Muhammad Ibrahim QASMI]
• Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaaf or PTI (Pakistan Movement for Justice) [Imran KHAN]
• Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party or PMAP or PKMAP [Mahmood Khan ACHAKZAI]
• Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan or TLP [Hafiz Muhammad Saad Hussain Rizvi MARKAZI]
• Note: Pakistan has several hundred officially registered political parties; this list includes those that won seats in the most recent elections at the national and provincial levels

• 18 years of age
• universal
• note - there are joint electorates and reserved parliamentary seats for women and non-Muslims

• yes citizenship by descent: at least one par
• ent must be a citizen of Pakistan dual citizenship recognized: yes, but limited
• to select countries residency requirement for naturalization: 4 out of the previous 7 years and including the 12 months preceding application

ADB, AIIB, ARF, ASEAN (sectoral dialogue partner), C, CERN (associate member), CICA, CP, D-8, ECO, FAO, G-11, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINURCAT, MINURSO, MINUSCA, MONUSCO, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, PCA, SAARC, SACEP, SCO, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNISFA, UNMISS, UNOOSA, UNSOS, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

chief of mission

Ambassador Donald BLOME (since 2 July 2022) embassy: Diplomatic Enclave, Ramna 5, Islamabad mailing address: 8100 Islamabad Place, Washington, DC 20521-8100

telephone

[92] 051-201-4000

FAX

[92] 51-2338071

Email address and website

• ACSIslamabad@state.gov
• https://pk.usembassy.gov/

consulate(s) general

Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar

chief of mission

Ambassador Sardar Masood KHAN (since 19 April 2022)

chancery

3517 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone

[1] (202) 243-6500

FAX

[1] (202) 686-1534

Email address and website

• consularsection@embassyofpakistanusa.org
• https://embassyofpakistanusa.org/

consulate(s) general

Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York