Pakistan’s political landscape has been mostly turbulent. Besides other problems, it has had a history of conflict between ‘powerful’ presidents and elected prime ministers. However, its political history cannot be complete without an account of so-called ‘powerless’ presidents – Chaudhry Fazal Elahi, Justice Muhammad Rafiq Tarar, Mamoon Hussain and Arif Alvi.

Even when they coexisted with elected prime ministers, Generals Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf, never left the matter of who was in charge in doubt. It was always the man in uniform for the simple reason that he was the man in uniform. For the satisfaction of legalistic minds, certain amendments were made to the constitution so that the prime ministers could continue in their offices for as long as they enjoyed the confidence of the National Assembly and the president. The instrument however survived its original beneficiaries so that their successors, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Farooq Leghari and Asif Ali Zardari, too, had the constitutional power to sack the prime ministers. This was not the case with Presidents Fazal Elahi, Rafiq Tarar, Mamoon Hussain and Arif Alvi. To those who saw relevance in the office of the president only in terms of his ability and willingness to sack a prime minister, these presidents were ‘powerless’. Frustrated oppositions derided them as ‘toothless lions’.

Pakistan’s first ‘powerless’ president was Chaudhry Fazal Elahi. He was elected and installed upon the promulgation of the 1973 constitution. Born in 1904, Elahi had started his political career from the platform of All India Muslim League. He had served as a deputy speaker of the National Assembly (1965-69) as well as its speaker (1972-73). Given the Westminster nature of the constitution, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was rightfully calling the shots. This was an unfamiliar sight for the political class as well as the media more used to all-powerful presidents like Iskandar Mirza, Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan.

The ‘powerlessness’ was often commented upon and jokes were told about how he could not even leave the presidency on his own or of his free will. According to one version, the Presidency guard would find frequently see the slogan ‘Release Fazal Elahi’ painted on one of the boundary walls. They would erase it only to see it reappear. During a night watch, they finally caught the person stealthily writing the slogan and it was none other than the president. When Gen Zia took over in a 1977 coup and the prime minister and the cabinet were removed, President Elahi was requested to continue in his essentially ceremonial office. He agreed and completed his term which ended in 1978 when Gen Zia, who had been the chief martial law administrator so far, also took over as president.

The next such president was Rafiq Tarar. The former judge was elected in 1998 after the provision allowing the president to sack the prime minister had been removed. Like President Elahi, he was asked to continue when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was removed. Gen Musharraf therefore became the ‘chief executive’. In 2001, Gen Musharraf asked him to quit and himself took over as president. Rafiq Tarar would for some time continue to claim that, constitutionally speaking, he remained the president even though he was not allowed to serve in that capacity. The fact that he had sided with Nawaz Sharif in the latter’s standoff with former chief justice of Pakistan, Sajjad Ali Shah, was held against him by opposition politicians and other critics. His presidency, some said, was a reward for the off the record ‘services.’

President Mamnoon Hussain (1940-2021), a thorough gentleman, too remained a butt of jokes and memes circulated by activists of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and other groups. He had earlier served as president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 1997. He had joined the Pakistan Muslim League in 1993 at a time the Pakistan Peoples Party had governments both in Sindh and at the Centre. In June 1999, Nawaz Sharif had appointed him the Sindh governor. His term in that office cut short following Gen Musharraf’s coup in October 1999.

He was elected president and took oath on September 9, 2013. He completed his tenure on September 19, 2018. He worked with Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Nasirul Mulk (caretaker) and Imran Khan. Opponents and social media trolls sought to make light of his accomplishments and his humility was taken for granted, even put down to being a sign of servility.

Last, but not the least, President Arif Alvi, the 13th president of Pakistan, is the son of Dr Habibur Rehman Alvi, said to be the dentist to Indian Premier Jawaharlal Nehru before migrating to Pakistan. President Alvi, too, is a dentist by training and profession. He started his political career as an activist for the Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba and later joined the Jamaat-i-Islami. He contested an election for Sindh Assembly in 1977 but lost. He joined the PTI in 1996. In 2013, he was elected to the National Assembly from Karachi on a PTI ticket. On September 4, 2018, he was elected president.

In a recent session of the Senate, some opposition senators went after President Arif Alvi alleging that he was misusing his office. Senator Tahir Bizenjo from Balochistan urged the opposition to seriously consider filing a disqualification reference against him. During the debate on his annual address to the joint sitting of the parliament, Senator Bizenjo recalled that under the constitution, the president was supposed to be impartial. He said Dr Alvi had instead spoken in the parliament like a PTI activist.

Bizenjo, who belongs to the National Party, pointed out that in its judgment in the Qazi Faez Isa case, the apex court had declared that the presidential reference against the Supreme Court judge was motivated by mala fide.

Now that there is talk yet again of a switch to presidential form of government in the country, it is anybody’s guess whether the electorate will be grateful for the blessing the ‘powerless’ presidents, abiding by the constitution, have been and choose to stick to them.

The writer is a senior journalist, teacher of journalism and an analyst. He tweets at @BukhariMubasher