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List of Pakistan heads of state 1947 until now?

Abdul Ali

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I'm trying to establish a continuous list of our de facto heads of state from inception until present. There's been such a carousel its seems and I've had trouble deciphering who's actually been in charge.

So far I've pinned it down to the following, listed by years at the helm. I've bypassed naming caretaker managers, but the years all intersect. The end result of their terms is listed as well. Please advise where inaccuracies lie.

1947-1948 Muhammad Ali Jinnah - died in office
1948-1951 Liaquat Ali Khan - assassinated
1951-1955 Ghulam Muhammad - dismissed (health reasons)
1955-1958 Iskander Ali Mirza - military coup
1958-1969 Muhammad Ayub Khan - resigned
1969-1971 Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan - resigned
1971-1977 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto - military coup
1977-1988 Muhammad Zia Ul-Haq - died in office
1988-1990 Benazir Bhutto - dismissed
1990-1993 Muhammad Nawaz Sharif - dismissed, then resigned
1993-1996 Benazir Bhutto - dismissed
1996-1999 Muhammad Nawaz Sharif - military coup
1999-2008 Pervez Musharraf - resigned
2008-2009 Asif Ali Zardari
 
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I'm trying to establish a continuous list of our de facto heads of state from inception until present. There's been such a carousel its seems and I've had trouble deciphering who's actually been in charge.

So far I've pinned it down to the following, listed by years at the helm. I've bypassed naming caretaker managers, but the years all intersect. Please advise where inaccuracies lie.

1947-1948 Muhammad Ali Jinnah
1948-1951 Liaquat Ali Khan
1951-1955 Ghulam Muhammad
1955-1958 Iskander Ali Mirza
1958-1969 Muhammad Ayub Khan
1969-1971 Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan
1971-1977 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
1977-1988 Muhammad Zia Ul-Haq
1988-1990 Benazir Bhutto
1990-1993 Muhammad Nawaz Sharif 1993-1996 Benazir Bhutto
1996-1999 Muhammad Nawaz Sharif
1999-2008 Pervez Musharraf
2008-2009 Asif Ali Zardari

Were the Prime Ministers heads of state ??
 
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Good work, Abdul Ali. Would you please add designation also? It will help understanding who was in power really. And, you won't be missing presidents like Zahoor Ilahi, Gulam IsHaq Khan, Farooq Laghari, Rafiq Tarar, and prime ministers like Muhammad Khan junejo, Shaukat Aziz and Yusaf Raza Gilan.

Why not adding the caretakers?
 
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I'm trying to establish a continuous list of our de facto heads of state from inception until present. There's been such a carousel its seems and I've had trouble deciphering who's actually been in charge.

So far I've pinned it down to the following, listed by years at the helm. I've bypassed naming caretaker managers, but the years all intersect. The end result of their terms is listed as well. Please advise where inaccuracies lie.

1947-1948 Muhammad Ali Jinnah - died in office
1948-1951 Liaquat Ali Khan - assassinated
1951-1955 Ghulam Muhammad - dismissed (health reasons)
1955-1958 Iskander Ali Mirza - military coup
1958-1969 Muhammad Ayub Khan - resigned
1969-1971 Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan - resigned
1971-1977 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto - military coup
1977-1988 Muhammad Zia Ul-Haq - died in office
1988-1990 Benazir Bhutto - dismissed
1990-1993 Muhammad Nawaz Sharif - dismissed, then resigned
1993-1996 Benazir Bhutto - dismissed
1996-1999 Muhammad Nawaz Sharif - military coup
1999-2008 Pervez Musharraf - resigned
2008-2009 Asif Ali Zardari

Lets see, wt goes with Asif Ali Zardari..................I doubt if he ever resignes.......
 
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Zardari will face impeachment motion from the parliament, I suppose.
 
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I'm trying to establish a continuous list of our de facto heads of state from inception until present. There's been such a carousel its seems and I've had trouble deciphering who's actually been in charge.

So far I've pinned it down to the following, listed by years at the helm. I've bypassed naming caretaker managers, but the years all intersect. The end result of their terms is listed as well. Please advise where inaccuracies lie.

1947-1948 Muhammad Ali Jinnah - died in office
1948-1951 Liaquat Ali Khan - assassinated
1951-1955 Ghulam Muhammad - dismissed (health reasons)
1955-1958 Iskander Ali Mirza - military coup
1958-1969 Muhammad Ayub Khan - resigned
1969-1971 Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan - resigned
1971-1977 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto - military coup
1977-1988 Muhammad Zia Ul-Haq - died in office
1988-1990 Benazir Bhutto - dismissed
1990-1993 Muhammad Nawaz Sharif - dismissed, then resigned
1993-1996 Benazir Bhutto - dismissed
1996-1999 Muhammad Nawaz Sharif - military coup
1999-2008 Pervez Musharraf - resigned
2008-2009 Asif Ali Zardari


Regret to say but this information is inaccurate. You are confusing between President/Gov General, who is head of the state and the Prime Minister, who is head of the Government. This is a scholarly forum and I would humbly request Hon Members to do some research before posting historical facts.

To be strictly correct actual list is:


Governor Generals (until 1956)/ Presidents thereafter.

1. Quaid e Azam 14/8/9147 to 11/9/1948

2. Khawaja Nazimuddin 14/9/1948 to 17/10/1951

3. Ghulam Mohammed. 17/10/1951 to 6/10/1955

4. Iskandar Mirza 6/10/1955 to 23/3/1956. President until 27/10/1958

5. FM Ayub Khan 27/10/1958 to 25/3/1969

6. Yahya Khan 25/3/1969 to 20/12/1971

7. ZA Bhutto 20/12/1971 to 13/8/1973

8. Fazal Elahi Chaudhry 13/18/1973 to 16/9/1978

9. Gen Zia ul Haq 16/9/1978 to 17/8/1988

10. Ghulam Ishaq Khan 17/8/1988 to 18/7/1993

11. Wasim Sajjad 18/7/1993 to 14/9/1993 ( acting)

12. Farooq Leghari 14/9/193 to 2/12 /1997

13. Waseem Sajjad 2/12/19917 to 1/1/ 1998 ( acting)

14. Rafiq Tarrar 1/1/1998 to 20/6 /2001

15. Musharraf 20/6/2001 to 18/10/2008

16. M.M. Soomro 18/10/2008 to 9/9/ 2008 ( acting)

17. Asif Zardari 9/9/2008 to now
 
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Dear Niaz

I'm afraid I didn't make my original post clear enough. My intention was to list the names of the person who's in charg...i.e. the point man, regardless of formal title.

In other words, we know Muhammad Rafiq Tarar held the presidency until June 2001, but who would claim that General Musharraf was not the chief executive of Pakistan from October 1999 until June 2001? The General was the calling the shots. Same can be said of General Zia during his 11 year tenure from overthrowing Bhutto in 1977 until his death.

If you were asked who was the leader of Pakistan in 2000, would you say Tarar or Musharraf?

So therefore no scholarly merit can be attributed to the list I posted, simply an overall - albeit unavoidably ambiguous and informal - line of succession in the "leadership" position for Pakistan.
 
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I would like to make the following changes and (open a can of worms) :)

1947-1948 Muhammad Ali Jinnah - died in office (Never elected but period should count as democratic as he was appointed per the process available at that time)1948-1951 Liaquat Ali Khan - assassinated (Never elected but period should count as democratic as he was appointed per the process available at that time)
1951-1955 Ghulam Muhammad - dismissed (health reasons) (Never elected but period should count as democratic as he was appointed per the process available at that time)
1955-1958 Iskander Ali Mirza - military coup
1958-1969 Muhammad Ayub Khan - resigned 1969-1971 Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan - resigned
1971-1977 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto - military coup Period from 73 to 77 should count as democratic
1977-1988 Muhammad Zia Ul-Haq - died in office
1988-1990 Benazir Bhutto - dismissed Democratic
1990-1993 Muhammad Nawaz Sharif - dismissed, then resigned Democratic
1993-1996 Benazir Bhutto - dismissed Democratic
1996-1999 Muhammad Nawaz Sharif - military coup Democratic
1999-2008 Pervez Musharraf - resigned Period from 02 to 08 should count as democratic
2008-2009 Asif Ali Zardari[/QUOTE] Democratic
 
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Also, was Jinnah the Governor General or President ? I don't know if Governors count as real head of state.

Governor General just like Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari (Indian Gov. Gen from 1948 - 1950)
 
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Dear Niaz

I'm afraid I didn't make my original post clear enough. My intention was to list the names of the person who's in charg...i.e. the point man, regardless of formal title.

In other words, we know Muhammad Rafiq Tarar held the presidency until June 2001, but who would claim that General Musharraf was not the chief executive of Pakistan from October 1999 until June 2001? The General was the calling the shots. Same can be said of General Zia during his 11 year tenure from overthrowing Bhutto in 1977 until his death.

If you were asked who was the leader of Pakistan in 2000, would you say Tarar or Musharraf?

So therefore no scholarly merit can be attributed to the list I posted, simply an overall - albeit unavoidably ambiguous and informal - line of succession in the "leadership" position for Pakistan.


Thanks for clarification; however you missed out two powerful presidents. Ghulam Ishaq Khan was a president with full powers and cannot be compared with Fazal Elahi Chaudhry. Also Farooq Leghari dismissed Benazir, so one should not discount him either. I restate my position, Head of the State is called president in Pakistan and any list of "Heads of State" should not include any Heads of Government (Prime Ministers). Your list was not entitled 'Leaders of Pakistan'


For the benefit of Hon Members, I note below Prime Ministers of Pakistan. Many historians I came across ignore Nurul Amin, he was appointed by Yahya Khan on 6/12/1971 as a desperate measure.
He was nevertheless Prime Minister of Pakistan and any serious study of Pakistani history should include him.


Prime Ministers of Pakistan

Liaquat Ali Khan 14/8/1947 to 16/10/1951
Khwaja Nazimuddin 17/10/1951 to 17/4/1953
Mohammad Ali Bogra 17/4/1953 to 12/8/1955
Chaudhri Mohammad Ali 12/8/1955 to 12/9/1956
Husayn Shahid Suhrawardi 12/9/1956 to 17/10/1957
Ismail Ibrahim Chundrigar 17/10/1957 to16/12/1957
Malik Firoz Khan Nun 16/12/ 1957 to 17/10/1958

Martial Law

Nurul Amin 7/12/1971 to 20/12/1971
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto 14/8/1973 to 5/7/1997 (president 20/11/1971 to 13/8/1973)

Martial Law

Mohammad Khan Junejo 24/3/85 to 29/5/1988
Benazir Bhutto 2/12/88 to 6/8/1990
Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi 6/8/1990 to 6/11/1990
Nawaz Sharif 6/11/1990 to 18/4/1993
Balakh Sher Mazari 18/4/1993 to26/5/1993
Nawaz Sharif 26/5/1993 to 18/7 /1993
Moeen Qureshi 18/7/1993 to 19/10/1993
Benazir Bhutto 19/10/1993 to 5/11/1996
Meraj Khalid 5/11/1996 to 17/2/1997
Nawaz Sharif 17/2/1997 t0 12/10/1999

Martial Law

Zafarullah Khan Jamali 21/11/2002 to 26/6/2004
Ch Shujaat Hussein 26/6/2004 to 20/8/2004
Shaukat Aziz 20/8/2004 to 15/11/2007
Mohammed Mian Soomro 16/11/2007 to 25/3/2008
Yousaf Raza Gilani 25/3/2008 to now
 
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Thanks for clarification; however you missed out two powerful presidents. Ghulam Ishaq Khan was a president with full powers and cannot be compared with Fazal Elahi Chaudhry. Also Farooq Leghari dismissed Benazir, so one should not discount him either. I restate my position, Head of the State is called president in Pakistan and any list of "Heads of State" should not include any Heads of Government (Prime Ministers). Your list was not entitled 'Leaders of Pakistan'


For the benefit of Hon Members, I note below Prime Ministers of Pakistan. Many historians I came across ignore Nurul Amin, he was appointed by Yahya Khan on 6/12/1971 as a desperate measure.
He was nevertheless Prime Minister of Pakistan and any serious study of Pakistani history should include him.


Prime Ministers of Pakistan

Liaquat Ali Khan 14/8/1947 to 16/10/1951
Khwaja Nazimuddin 17/10/1951 to 17/4/1953
Mohammad Ali Bogra 17/4/1953 to 12/8/1955
Chaudhri Mohammad Ali 12/8/1955 to 12/9/1956
Husayn Shahid Suhrawardi 12/9/1956 to 17/10/1957
Ismail Ibrahim Chundrigar 17/10/1957 to16/12/1957
Malik Firoz Khan Nun 16/12/ 1957 to 17/10/1958

Martial Law

Nurul Amin 7/12/1971 to 20/12/1971

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto 14/8/1973 to 5/7/1997(president 20/11/1971 to 13/8/1973)


Martial Law

Mohammad Khan Junejo 24/3/85 to 29/5/1988
Benazir Bhutto 2/12/88 to 6/8/1990
Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi 6/8/1990 to 6/11/1990
Nawaz Sharif 6/11/1990 to 18/4/1993
Balakh Sher Mazari 18/4/1993 to26/5/1993
Nawaz Sharif 26/5/1993 to 18/7 /1993
Moeen Qureshi 18/7/1993 to 19/10/1993
Benazir Bhutto 19/10/1993 to 5/11/1996
Meraj Khalid 5/11/1996 to 17/2/1997
Nawaz Sharif 17/2/1997 t0 12/10/1999

Martial Law

Zafarullah Khan Jamali 21/11/2002 to 26/6/2004
Ch Shujaat Hussein 26/6/2004 to 20/8/2004
Shaukat Aziz 20/8/2004 to 15/11/2007
Mohammed Mian Soomro 16/11/2007 to 25/3/2008
Yousaf Raza Gilani 25/3/2008 to now

So, who was Prime Minister during the period from 20/12/1971 to 14/8/1973?

BTW : I suppose that the Figure "5/7/1997" might be "5/7/1977".
 
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