Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, had a vision of a parliamentary form of government for the country. In 1973, a constitution providing for the same was agreed to, and promulgated. However, Gen Zia amended the constitution and took away some of the executive powers from the prime minister. The Eighth Amendment, adopted at his instance, also conferred on the president, through the Article 58-2(b), the power to sack the prime minister. This, on one hand, turned Pakistan’s parliamentary democracy into a semi-presidential setup, and on the other, allowed the president to exercise special powers to dissolve the National Assembly, appoint provincial governors and the chiefs of the armed forces – Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Some critics of this amendment have argued that the Article 58-2(b) created the room for the establishment to influence the president and compel him to exercise the powers to dissolve the assembly. Thus, not only Gen Zia but also civilian presidents – Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Farooq Leghari – invoked the article to dislodge elected governments in 1988, 1990, 1993 and 1996. This, in turn, damaged the parliamentary democracy in the country and diminished the office of prime minister during the 1990s.

Corruption was apparently the main reason for the dismissal of all governments in the 1990s. However, the charges could never be proved in a court of law. It was thus speculated that there could be other covert factors in the dismissal of elected governments by civilian presidents.

President Khan dissolved the National Assembly and dismissed the government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 1990 after just 20 months in power. Responding to journalists, the president claimed that the PPP government was dislodged because it had become fractured due to “persistent and scandalous horse-trading for political gain, and corrupt practices and inducement.” Describing her sacking as a “constitutional coup d’état,” Bhutto claimed that the president had been “forced to do it”.

Some independent observers too affirmed Bhutto’s claim. They said Bhutto’s ambitious initiatives on foreign policy front – arrival of Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi in December 1988 in Islamabad for the SAARC Summit, and her own visit to the United States in June 1989 – and her attempt to take control of the ministries of interior and foreign affairs caused her rift with the establishment and subsequently, her removal from the office.

The president, described by some a pawn of the establishment, tried to extract details of Bhutto’s meeting with Rajiv which she reportedly refused to share with him. Also, during her visit to the US, she presented herself as a resolute enemy of religious fundamentalism and vowed to curb it. Furthermore, she assured the Americans that Pakistan did not possess nuclear weapons. It was said that a meeting to address the ethnic strife in Sindh was scheduled to be held Rawalpindi in May 1990. When Bhutto shifted it to the office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the decision was resented. It was also alleged that the army launched the clean-up operation in Hyderabad without prior approval by the government. The operation aggravated the ethnic strife in the province. Iqbal Akhund, Benazir Bhutto’s foreign affairs advisor and the author of Trial and Error, says the decision to sack Bhutto was taken in a meeting of army commanders in Rawalpindi on July 21.

Benazir Bhutto handpicked Farooq Leghari as the PPP candidate for presidency in December 1993. She remarked that he was “my man”. However, he later dismissed her government on charges of economic mismanagement, corruption and failure to maintain law and order.

Another group of analysts claims that Bhutto’s pledge to start a clampdown on the country’s heroin traffickers and impose a ban on the Bank of Credit and Commerce International – that was allegedly involved in money laundering – laid the foundation of her downfall. A number of high-level bureaucrats, civil and military, had opposed her decision on the BCCI. Bhutto was reported to have cancelled several visits abroad “because she feared that the drug mafia would get the army to declare martial law”. Her mother Nusrat Bhutto, openly stated in August 1990, that “heroin money was the issue behind the dismissal.”

President Khan also dismissed the Nawaz Sharif government on April 18, 1993 following differences with the PM over his efforts to be re-elected for another five-year term. However, the scope of the reasons is even wider. To begin with, Sharif, having a clear majority in the NA, had started taking independent initiatives e.g., on Kashmir and Afghanistan, which the president did not like. The president had started by not only ignoring but opposing the PM in important decisions e.g., appointment of the COAS, whom he later claimed, Sharif tried to tempt with “offers and opportunities.” The president also refused to appoint Lt Gen Javed Nasir as head of ISI despite Sharif’s insistence. He also appointed Gen Abdul Waheed Kakar as the next COAS against Sharif’s wish. The prime minister was also seen trying to reverse the Eighth Amendment and had refused to support Khan’s re-election in 1993.

Sensing the situation, many of Sharif’s close aides had warned him that the developments might prompt the president to dissolve the assembly before the presidential election could be held. On the other hand, Khan’s associates had advised him to act before the end of the first half of the year, otherwise he would miss the train. Thus, the president dismissed Sharif’s government on charges of corruption, maladministration and nepotism.

Sharif challenged the dismissal in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which reversed the decision and reinstated his government on May 26, 1993, declaring that the dissolution of the NA fell “outside the ambit of powers conferred on the president,” and, therefore, was “without lawful authority”. However, both the president and the PM resigned eight weeks later (it is alleged that Gen Kakar brokered an agreement between them, and they agreed to resign).

Benazir Bhutto then chose Farooq Leghari as the PPP candidate for presidentship in December 1993. She remarked that he was “my man”. However, he later dismissed her government on charges of economic mismanagement, corruption and failure to maintain law and order.

Again, the president was alleged to have had personal and covert reasons for dislodging the government. The rift between the PM and the president on handling of key issues had widened over time. The president was reportedly annoyed at the way Bhutto slighted him at every opportunity and failed to consult him on critical issues. It was speculated that the army had backed Leghari’s move to dismiss Bhutto’s government.

Civilian presidents thrice invoked the Article 58-2(b) for less-than-transparent reasons. This ruptured the process of parliamentary democracy in Pakistan. Had they not invoked the Article 58-2(b), the situation might have been a lot different.

The writer has a PhD in history from Shanghai University and is a lecturer at GCU, Faisalabad. He can be contacted at mazharabbasgondal87@gmail.com. He tweets at  @MazharGondal87