List of prime ministers of Pakistan

Flag of the Prime Minister of Pakistan

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The prime minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: وزير اعظم‎, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam, lit. 'Grand Vizier', Urdu pronunciation: [ʋəˈziːɾˌeː ˈɑː.zəm]), is the popularly elected politician who is the chief executive of the Government of Pakistan.^[1] The prime minister is vested with the responsibility of running the administration through his appointed federal cabinet, formulating national policies to ensure the safeguard of the interests of the nation and its people through the Council of Common Interests as well as making the decision to call nationwide general elections for the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan.^[2][3][4]

Since 1947, Pakistan has had eighteen prime ministers, aside from the appointed caretaker prime ministers who were only mandated to oversee the system until the election process was finished. In Pakistan's parliamentary system, the prime minister is sworn-in by the President and usually is the Chairman or the President of the party or coalition that has a majority in the National Assembly– the lower house of Pakistan Parliament.

After the Partition of British India on the midnight of 14/15 August 1947, Pakistan followed the British system by creating the post of prime minister based at the Prime Minister's Secretariat.^[3][4] The then Governor-General of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, took advice from the Founding Fathers of the nation and appointed Liaquat Ali Khan to establish and lead his administration on 15 August 1947.^[5] Before the presidential system in 1960, seven prime ministers had served between 1947 until martial law in 1958. In 1971, the office was again revived but ceased to exist shortly.^[6][7] Executive powers and authority was given to the prime minister when the full set of the Constitution of Pakistan was promulgated in 1973 but the post was ceased from its effective operations after another martial law in 1977.^[8][9] After the general elections held in 1985, the office came to its existence.^[6] Between 1988–99, the office was held by Benazir Bhutto of the PPP and Nawaz Sharif of PML(N), each holding the office for two non-consecutive terms between 1988 and 1999: Bhutto during 1988–90 and 1993–96;^[10] and Sharif during 1990–93 and 1997–99.^[11][12]

After the general elections held in 2002, Zafarullah Khan Jamali was invited to form his administration as its prime minister.^[13] After the Supreme Court of Pakistan's ruling to disqualify Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani in 2012, the business of his administration was looked after by Raja Pervez Ashraf until the caretaker administration was setup under Mir Hazar Khan Khoso.^{[14][15][3][4]}

The premiership of I. I. Chundrigar was the shortest in Pakistan's history, serving only 55 days of his term. At approximately five years and four months in total, Sharif is the longest-serving prime minister.^[3][16] Sharif was re-elected for a third non-consecutive term on 5 June 2013, which is a record in the history of Pakistan.^[17][18] The national politics in Pakistan was mostly dominated by the army department of the Pakistan Armed Forces throughout its history, but it is now dominated by the political parties.^[13]

Key[]

Prime ministers[]

List of prime ministers of Pakistan hide

Term Number	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Tenure	Elections	Political party (Alliance)		Note(s)
1		Liaquat Ali Khan (1895–1951)	14 August 1947	16 October 1951 (assassinated)	4 years, 63 days	—	Muslim League		Following advice given by the founding father of the nation, Governor-General Muhammad Ali Jinnah appointed and invited the Finance Minister Liaquat Ali Khan to set up and run his administration in 1947. He was assassinated in 1951, and Khawaja Nazimuddin took the office.[5][19]
2		Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin (1894–1964)	17 October 1951	17 April 1953	1 year, 182 days	—	Muslim League		Nazimuddin became Prime Minister of Pakistan after the assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951.[19] He left the office when Governor-General Malik Ghulam Muhammad dissolved his government in 1953.[3]
3		Mohammad Ali Bogra (1909–1963)	17 April 1953	12 August 1955	2 years, 117 days	—	Muslim League		A diplomat and relatively unknown personality to Pakistani politics, Bogra established the Ministry of Talents but his administration was dismissed in 1955 by the Governor-General after the legislative elections in 1954.[3]
4		Chaudhry Mohammad Ali (1905–1982)	12 August 1955	12 September 1956	1 year, 31 days	—	Muslim League		A first appointment from the coalition of Muslim League, Awami League and the Republican Party, he was removed by his own party following the successful vote of no-confidence movement.[3]
5		Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (1892–1963)	12 September 1956	17 October 1957	1 year, 35 days	—	Awami League		Popular for his wit in law, Suhrwardy resigned due to the loss of control over his party and support from the coalition partners in his administration.[3]
6		Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar (1897–1960)	17 October 1957	16 December 1957	60 days	—	Muslim League		Shortest tenured Prime Minister, Chundrigar established his administration but removed in mere 55 days into his term amid a vote of no-confidence movement led by majority votes of the Republican Party and Awami League.[3]
7		Sir Feroze Khan Noon (1893–1970)	16 December 1957	7 October 1958	295 days	—	Republican Party		A lawyer, Sir Feroze Khan's administration collapsed after his party's own President Iskander Mirza enforced martial law in 1958 in a view of extending his term of office[20][21]
7 October 1958 – 7 December 1971
8		Nurul Amin (1893–1974)	7 December 1971	20 December 1971	13 days	1970	Pakistan Muslim League		After the general elections in 1971, Amin was invited to be appointed as Prime Minister under Yahya administration; yet he was also the first and the only Vice President of Pakistan from 1970 to 1972, leading Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[3]
20 December 1971 – 14 August 1973
9		Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1928–1979)	14 August 1973	5 July 1977	3 years, 325 days	1977	Pakistan Peoples Party		Bhutto resigned as president to become the empowered Prime Minister after the Constitution was repromulgated, which established a parliamentary system of government. He was deposed in the martial law in 1977 by his appointed army chief, General Zia, in July 1977.[9][22]
5 July 1977 – 24 March 1985
10		Muhammad Khan Junejo (1932–1993)	24 March 1985	29 May 1988	3 years, 66 days	1985	Independent (Independent)		Junejo was elected as the tenth Prime Minister of Pakistan in non-party based elections in 1985, therefore he was elected on an Independent ticket but he served the Pakistan Muslim League while before entering in office and during office. He was dismissed by the president after Eighth Amendment to the Constitution.[3]
29 May 1988 – 2 December 1988
11		Benazir Bhutto (1953–2007)	2 December 1988	6 August 1990	1 year, 247 days	1988	Pakistan Peoples Party		Bhutto became the first woman in Pakistan to head a major political party, in 1982. Six years later, she became the first woman elected to lead a Muslim state.[10][23]
12		Nawaz Sharif (born 1949)	6 November 1990	18 July 1993	2 years, 254 days	1990	Pakistan Muslim League (N)		Sharif was elected as the 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan on 1 November 1990.[24] President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dissolved his government in April 1993, which was later on reinstated by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.[11] Sharif survived a serious constitutional crisis when President Khan attempted to dismiss him under article 58-2b, in April 1993, but he successfully challenged the decision in the Supreme Court.[11] Sharif resigned from the post negotiating a settlement that resulted in the removal of President as well, in July 1993.[25]
13		Benazir Bhutto (1953–2007)	19 October 1993	5 November 1996	3 years, 17 days	1993	Pakistan Peoples Party		Bhutto was re-elected for a second term, in 1993. She survived an attempted coup d'état in 1995. Bhutto's government was dismissed by president Farooq Leghari in November 1996.[26][27]
14		Nawaz Sharif (born 1949)	17 February 1997	12 October 1999	2 years, 237 days	1997	Pakistan Muslim League (N)		Sharif was re-elected as Prime Minister with an exclusive mandate from all over Pakistan for a non-consecutive second term, in February 1997.[12][28] His government was deposed by General Pervez Musharraf in October 1999, and Martial law was imposed in the entire country.[16][29]
12 October 1999 – 23 November 2002
15		Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali (1944–2020)	23 November 2002	26 June 2004	1 year, 216 days	2002	Pakistan Muslim League (Q)		Jamali was elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan in November 2002. He continued the foreign and economic policies of Pervez Musharraf but could not complete his term and resigned from the post in June 2004.[13]
26 June 2004 – 30 June 2004
16		Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain (born 1946)	30 June 2004	26 August 2004	57 days	—	Pakistan Muslim League (Q)		Parliament elected Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain as the Prime Minister and to serve a 50-day period before the Shaukat Aziz, permanently replaces him.[30]
26 August 2004 – 28 August 2004
17		Shaukat Aziz (born 1949)	28 August 2004	15 November 2007	3 years, 79 days	—	Pakistan Muslim League (Q)		Aziz took the office of Prime Minister of Pakistan in August 2004. He left the office at the end of the parliamentary term, in November 2007, and became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan who left the seat after completion of parliamentary term.[31]
18		Yousaf Raza Gillani (born 1952)	25 March 2008	19 June 2012	4 years, 86 days	2008	Pakistan Peoples Party		Gillani was elected as prime minister in March 2008. He was disqualified from his seat in the parliament in April 2012 by the Supreme Court for contempt of court.[32]
19		Raja Pervaiz Ashraf (born 1950)	22 June 2012	24 March 2013	275 days	—	Pakistan Peoples Party		Ashraf assumed the post of Prime Minister in June 2012, after Yousaf Raza Gillani was disqualified over contempt of court charges.[14]
20		Nawaz Sharif (born 1949)	5 June 2013	28 July 2017	4 years, 52 days	2013	Pakistan Muslim League (N)		On 5 June 2013, Sharif took office for a third non-consecutive term after winning 182/342 seats with clear majority.[17][18] He was disqualified on 28 July 2017 by the Supreme Court of Pakistan as a result of the Panama Papers case.[33]
29 July 2017 – 1 August 2017
21		Shahid Khaqan Abbasi (born 1958)	1 August 2017	31 May 2018	10 months	—	Pakistan Muslim League (N)		Parliament elected Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as the Prime Minister after the impeachment of Nawaz Sharif. His term expired on 31 May 2018 alongside the dissolution of the National Assembly to facilitate a caretaker government in place until the 25 July general election.[34]
22[n 1]		Imran Khan (born 1952)	18 August 2018	Incumbent	3 years, 29 days	2018	Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf		General elections were held on 25 July 2018, which resulted in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf winning 156/342 seats. making a coalition Government of 177 members including PTI, MQM, BAP and others. On 18 August 2018, Imran Khan was elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Caretakers[]

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• "Prime Ministers". National Assembly of Pakistan. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
• "Pakistan". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 1 July 2012.