Administrative Structure of Pakistan

The government in Pakistan is composed of the executive, legislative &

judicature branches

The Executive Government

Prime Minister of Pakistan
The Prime Minister of Pakistan is the Head of Government of Pakistan and
designated as the Chief Executive of the Republic, who leads the executive branch of
the government, oversees the economical growth, heads the Council of Common
Interests as well as the Cabinet, and is vested with the command authority over the

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nuclear arsenals. He is also a leader of the nation who has control over all matters of
internal and foreign policy.
The Prime Minister is appointed by the members of the National Assembly
through a vote. The Prime Minister is assisted by the Federal Cabinet, a Council of
Ministers whose members are appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime
Minister. The Federal Cabinet comprises of the ministers, ministers of state, and
advisers.

The Parliament
The bicameral federal legislature consists of the Senate (upper house) and National
Assembly (lower house). According to Article 50 of the Constitution, the National
Assembly, the Senate and the President together make up a body known as the Majlis-
i-Shoora (Council of Advisers).

The President of Pakistan

The President of Pakistan is the ceremonial Head of the State and a figurehead
who is a civilian Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces as per the
Constitution of Pakistan and a leader of the nation.
The President is kept informed by the Prime Minister on all the matters of internal
and foreign policy as well as on all legislative proposals. Constitution of Pakistan vest
the President the powers of granting the pardons, reprieves, and the control of the
military; however, all appointments at higher commands of the military must be made by
President on a "required and necessary" on consultation and approval from the Prime
Minister. In addition, the constitution prohibits the President from exercising the
authority of running the government.

The Senate
The Senate is a permanent legislative body with equal representation from each
of the four provinces, elected by the members of their respective provincial assemblies.
There are representatives from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and
from Islamabad Capital Territory. The Chairman of the Senate, under the constitution, is
next in line to act as President should the office become vacant and until such time as a
new president can be formally elected.
Both the Senate and the National Assembly can initiate and pass legislation
except for finance bills. Only the National Assembly can approve the federal budget and
all finance bills. In the case of other bills, the President may prevent passage unless the
legislature in joint sitting overrules the President by a majority of members of both
houses present and voting. Unlike the National Assembly, the Senate cannot be
dissolved by the President.

National Assembly of Pakistan

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 Members of the National Assembly are elected by universal adult suffrage
(eighteen years of age). Seats are allocated to each of the four provinces, the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas, and Islamabad Capital Territory on the basis of population.
National Assembly members serve for the parliamentary term, which is five years,
unless they die or resign sooner, or unless the National Assembly is dissolved.
Although the vast majority of the members are Muslim, about 5% of the seats are
reserved for minorities, including Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs. There are also 50+
special seats for women now, and women are selected by their respective party heads.

The Jurisdiction
The Judiciary includes the Supreme Court, Provincial High Courts, District &
Sessions Courts, Civil and Magistrate Courts exercising civil and criminal jurisdiction.
Some Federal and Provincial Courts and tribunals such as Services Court, Income Tax
& Excise Court, Banking Court and Boards of Revenue's Tribunals are established in all
provinces as well.

Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has original, appellate, and advisory jurisdiction. The Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court is appointed by the President; the other Supreme Court
judges are appointed by the President after consultation with the Chief Justice. The
Chief Justice and other Judges of the Supreme Court may remain in office until age of
sixty-eight years.

Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan

The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) of Pakistan is a court which has the power to
examine and determine whether the laws of the country comply with Shari'a law. It
consists of 8 Muslim judges appointed by the President of Pakistan after consulting the
Chief Justice of this Court. Of the 8 judges, 3 are required to be Ulema who are well
versed in Islamic law. The judges hold office for a period of 3 years, which may
eventually be extended by the President.
If any part of the law is declared to be against Islamic law, the government is
required to take necessary steps to amend such law appropriately. The court also
exercises revisional jurisdiction over the criminal courts, deciding Hudood cases. The
decisions of the court are binding on the High Courts as well as subordinate judiciary.
The court appoints its own staff and frames its own rules of procedure.

Provincial and High Courts

Currently all four provinces; Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtun Khwah and
Baluchistan have High Courts. After the approval of 18th Constitutional Amendment in
April 2010, a new High Court is established at Federal Capital Islamabad with the name
of Islamabad High Court. Judges appointments are proposed by a Parliamentary
Commission.

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 In addition, there are special courts and tribunals to deal with specific kinds of
cases, such as drug courts, commercial courts, labor courts, traffic courts, an insurance
appellate tribunal, an income tax appellate tribunal, and special courts for bank
offences. There are also special courts to try terrorists. Appeals from special courts go
to high courts except for labor and traffic courts, which have their own forums for
appeal. Appeals from the tribunals go to the Supreme Court.

Ombudsman / Mohtasib
A further feature of the judicial system is the office of Mohtasib (Ombudsman),
which is provided for in the constitution. The office of Mohtasib was established in many
early Muslim states to ensure that no wrongs were done to citizens. Appointed by the
president, the Mohtasib holds office for four years; the term cannot be extended or
renewed.
The Mohtasib's purpose is to institutionalize a system for enforcing administrative
accountability, through investigating and rectifying any injustice done to a person
through maladministration by a federal agency or a federal government official. The
Mohtasib is empowered to award compensation to those who have suffered loss or
damage as a result of maladministration. This institution is designed to bridge the gap
between administrator and citizen, to improve administrative processes and procedures,
and to help curb misuse of discretionary powers.

Administrative units of Pakistan:

Administrative units of Pakistan

‫پاکستان کی انتظامی اکائیاں‬

Category Federated state

Location Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Number 4 Provinces
2 Autonomous Territories
1 Federal Territory

Populati Least 2,441,523 (Gilgit-

ons Baltistan) Most 110,012,442
(Punjab)

Areas Smallest 906.0 km2(349.81 sq mi)
(Islamabad Capital
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 Territory) Largest347,200 km2 (13
4,050 sq mi) (Balochistan)

Subdivisi Divisions, Districts, Tehsils, Union
ons Council

The administrative units of Pakistan (Urdu: ‫ )پاکستان کی انتظامی اکائیاں‬consist of

four provinces (Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh), two
autonomous territories (Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan) and one federal
territory (Islamabad Capital Territory). Each province and territory is subdivided
into divisions, which are further subdivided into districts, which are further subdivided
into tehsils, or taluka, which are further subdivided into union councils.

History of Pakistan’s Administrative Structure:

 Pakistan's provinces and territories were inherited from British
India at independence on 14 August 1947.
 2 days after independence, the Muslim-majority district of Murshidabad in Bengal
moved from Pakistan to India due to an award by the Radcliffe Commission.
 In 1947, Pakistan consisted of two wings, which were separated by 1600
kilometres of Indian territory. The western wing consisted of the merger
of Northwest Frontier Province, West Punjab, and Sindh, the Baluchistan Chief
Commissioners Province, thirteen princely state. The eastern wing consisted
of East Bengal, the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet from the former British Raj
province of Assam.
 In 1948, Karachi was separated from Sindh to form the Federal Capital Territory.
 In 1950, the Northwest Frontier Province absorbed the princely states
of Amb and Phulra while West Punjab renamed itself to Punjab.
 In 1952, the four princely states in the southwest formed the Baluchistan States
Union.
 In 1955, the One Unit Policy was launched by Muhammad Ali Bogra, whereby all
the provinces and princely states of the western wing were merged and
formed West Pakistan, with Lahore as the provincial capital. Simultaneously,
East Bengal (including Sylhet and the Hill Tracts) was renamed to East Pakistan,
with Dacca as the provincial capital. The One Unit Policy aimed to reduce
expenditure and to eliminate provincial prejudices, but the military coup of 1958
signaled difficulties when the first military President, Ayub Khan, abolished the
office of Chief Minister of West Pakistan in favour of Governor's rule.

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 On 7 September 1958, after four years of negotiations, including six months of
intense negotiations, Pakistan purchased the Gwadarenclave from
the government of Oman for 5.5 billion rupees/ USD $3 million (approx.
$22,410,311.42 in 2017). Gwadar formally became part of Pakistan on 8
December 1958 after 174 years of Omani rule.
 In 1960, the federal capital moved from Karachi to Rawalpindi and in 1961, the
Federal Capital Territory was merged into West Pakistan. In 1966, the capital
was again moved to Islamabad. In 1962, Dacca was made the legislative capital
of the country due to East Pakistan's high population.
 In 1963, Pakistan entered into a treaty with China to transfer part of the Gilgit
Agency to China (Shaksgam Valley—the Trans-Karakoram Tract) with the
provision that the settlement was subject to the final solution of the Kashmir
dispute.
 In 1970, the second military President, Yahya Khan, abolished West Pakistan
and established four new provinces: Sindh, Balochistan, Northwest Frontier
Province and Punjab.
 In 1971, East Pakistan seceded to form Bangladesh in the Bangladesh Liberation
War.
 In 1974, the remaining princely states of Hunza and Nagar were abolished and
their territories merged into Gilgit Agency, to form the Northern Areas.
 In 1975, portions of the districts of Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan were
separated to form the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
 In 1981, the region around Islamabad was separated from Punjab, and renamed
to Islamabad Capital Territory.
 In August 2000, divisions were abolished as part of a plan to restructure local
government, followed by elections in 2001. Many of the functions previously
handled by the provinces had been transferred to the districts and tehsils. In
2008, the government restored the former divisions and appointed
commissioners.
 In 2009, the Northern Areas were renamed to Gilgit-Baltistan and became a de
facto province.
 In 2010, the Northwest Frontier Province was renamed to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
 In 2018, the National Assembly of Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly
passed the historic FATA Merger Bill - with the adoption of the Twenty-Fifth
Amendment Act of 2018. On 31 May, the final step in the merger of the FATA
with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) was completed, as President Mamnoon Hussain
signed the 25th Constitutional Amendment Bill into law. Thus FATA status was
abolished as a separate entity and was merged into Khyber Pakthunkhwa
province.

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Tiers of Pakistan
The diagram below outlines the six tiers of government:

Country
  
(i.e. Pakistan)

               

Province
   (e.g. Punjab
Province)

               

Division
    (e.g. Rawalpind
i Division)

             
 
District
    (e.g. Jhelum
District)

               

Tehsil
    (e.g. Sohawa
Tehsil)
7
                

Union Council
    (e.g. Domeli
UC)

Current Administrative Units of Pakistan:

English name Urdu Abbreviatio Capital Population Area Density

name n (2017) (km²)[10] (per
km²)

Azad Jammu ‫آزاد جموں و‬ AJK Muzaffarabad 4,045,366 13,297 223.55

and Kashmir ‫کشمیر‬

Balochistan ‫بلوچستان‬ BL Quetta 12,344,408 347,190 37.91

Gilgit-Baltistan ‫گلگت بلتستان‬ GB Gilgit 2,441,523 64,817 19.75

Islamabad ‫اسالم آباد‬ ICT Islamabad 2,006,572 906 1,271.38

Capital Territory ‫دارالحکومت‬

Khyber ‫خیبرپختونخو‬ KP Peshawar 35,525,047 101,741 349.17

Pakhtunkhwa ‫ا‬

Punjab ‫پنجاب‬ PJ Lahore 110,012,44 205,344 445.01

2

Sindh ‫سندھ‬ SN Karachi 47,886,051 140,914 392.05

Pakistan ‫پاکستان‬ PK Islamabad 214,261,40 874,209 223.79

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The End