Pakistan: Military-Guided Transitions to Elected Government and the Failure of Civilian Control

Abstract

On 17 August 1988, Pakistan’s military dictator, General Zia-ul-Haq, was killed in a plane crash. After Zia’s death, the military formulated the conditions for a handover of power to a civilian government and eventually initiated a political transition. Following parliamentary elections in November 1988, Benazir Bhutto of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was named Pakistan’s first female prime minister. However, the military’s disengagement from direct rule and the rise of electoral politics under Prime Ministers Bhutto (1988–1990, 1993–1996) and Nawaz Sharif (1990–1993, 1997–1999) did not result in the complete civilianization of the political system. Rather, the military continued to operate behind the scenes, acting as ‘arbiter of the last resort with overriding authority in all political and institutional conflicts of significance in the country’ (Sattar, 2001: 392; Haqqani, 2005: 199–201).