This series will cover the history of Modern Pakistan, from the earliest notions of a separatist Muslim governance to the creation of Pakistan and all the way to 2023.

You can read post covering 1857 – 1927 here: A History of Modern Pakistan #1 1857 – 1927

You can read post covering 1927- 1939 here: A History of Modern Pakistan #2 1927 – 1939

You can read post covering 1939 – 1947 here: A History of Modern Pakistan #3 1939 – 1947

You can read post covering 1947 – 1953 here: A History of Modern Pakistan #4 1947 – 1953

You can read post covering 1953 – 1958 here: A History of Modern Pakistan #5 1953 – 1958

You can read post covering 1958 – 1970 here: A History of Modern Pakistan #6 1958 – 1970

You can read post covering 1970 – 1977 here: A History of Modern Pakistan #7 1970 – 19770

You can read post covering 1977 – 1988 here: A History of Modern Pakistan #8 1977 – 1988

You can read post covering 1988 – 1993 here: A History of Modern Pakistan #9 1988 – 1993

Bhutto second term as Prime Minister

Benazir Bhutto returned to power in 1993 determined not to repeat the mistakes of her first government. She felt she had been unfairly removed in 1990 and believed that political manipulation and vote rigging had been used against her. This time she returned as the “Iron Lady”, determined to establish political stability and a united Pakistan with one clear voice.

One of the ways she tried to strengthen her position was by taking greater control of the country’s security establishment. Alongside choosing Farooq Leghari as President, Bhutto personally approved the appointments of Pakistan’s four senior defence chiefs, including the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. She also worked to improve Pakistan’s relations with the West and Iran. Her efforts with the United States eventually helped lead to the lifting of some American sanctions in 1995.

Bhutto was an economist by profession, and in her second term she also took charge of the Ministry of Finance. She wanted to improve Pakistan’s finances so that she could finally deliver the social programmes she had promised. However, she found that reforming the economy was not simply a matter of changing government policy. Many influential government officials and politicians had interests in existing industries and businesses, meaning that reforms could threaten their own wealth and influence. Her government therefore faced resistance from within the system itself.

Bhutto also wanted Pakistanis to develop a stronger sense of national pride. Restrictions on the music and film industries were lifted, allowing Pakistani culture to develop more freely after years of censorship. At the same time, her government placed restrictions on Indian media, reflecting the continuing rivalry between the two countries and her desire to strengthen Pakistani cultural identity.

Women were another major focus of her second government. Bhutto oversaw the creation of a women’s division within government, headed by a senior female civil servant, as well as the establishment of a women’s bank. She introduced all-female police stations staffed by female officers, making it easier for women to report crimes in an environment where they felt more comfortable. Family courts with female judges were established to deal with matters such as custody and family disputes, and female judges were appointed to the High Courts of Peshawar and Sindh. Bhutto also became involved in a number of international councils and organisations dealing with women’s issues.

By 1996, Bhutto was also presenting Pakistan as a country that could stand on equal terms with India, including in its nuclear capability. She also recognised the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Her approach was increasingly pragmatic: Pakistan needed friends and influence in the region rather than more enemies.

But there was a fundamental problem. Pakistan simply did not have enough money to fulfil all of Bhutto’s ambitions. Around 70 percent of national revenues were being consumed by debt repayments, while much of the remainder was going towards the military. Inflation continued to rise and taxes increased, creating growing dissatisfaction with the government.

Bhutto Corruption

As Bhutto’s second government continued, allegations of corruption became increasingly difficult for the government to ignore. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, was at the centre of many of the accusations. One controversial deal allegedly earned Zardari around $10 million for giving a gold dealer a monopoly over gold imports. Other allegations involved commissions, government contracts and money being transferred into foreign accounts.

The accusations were not simply that Zardari was corrupt on his own. There were growing claims that Bhutto and Zardari were working together and benefiting from government influence. Bhutto made 24 foreign business trips in a single year, while the couple’s property holdings and wealth grew dramatically. By 1996, journalist John Burns reported allegations that the couple had accumulated more than $1.5 billion through various illegal deals.

The couple were also accused of evading taxes and moving money into foreign accounts. Whether every allegation could ultimately be proven became a matter of legal dispute, but politically the damage was already being done. Bhutto had returned promising to improve the lives of ordinary Pakistanis, while her government was increasingly being associated with personal wealth and corruption.

Murtaza Bhutto enters Politics

There was another person who was about to make life even more difficult for Benazir: her own brother, Murtaza Bhutto.

Murtaza was the son of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and had spent years in exile after being involved in militant activities during the Zia regime. As dissatisfaction with Benazir grew, including within her own family, a faction of the PPP began presenting Murtaza as the true heir to his father’s political legacy.

Murtaza eventually returned to Pakistan, wanting to revive the politics of his father. This did not sit well with Benazir. When he arrived, he was arrested and spent around eight months in detention before eventually being acquitted.

Murtaza then established his own party, the PPP Shaheed Bhutto, presenting it as the true continuation of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s political legacy. He also began attacking Benazir personally, referring to her as “Begum Zardari”, suggesting that she had become more concerned with her husband’s interests than her father’s political vision.

Most of his criticism, however, was directed at Zardari and the corruption allegations surrounding him. Murtaza was so openly hostile to his brother-in-law that he reportedly hung a picture of Zardari in his guest toilet as a deliberate act of protest.

Murtaza also formed an alliance with Nawaz Sharif’s opposition in an attempt to undermine Benazir’s government.

Then, on 20 September 1996, Murtaza was killed.

His convoy was stopped by police near Karachi and a gunfight broke out. Murtaza and seven others were killed. The circumstances surrounding the killing immediately became controversial. His supporters believed that the assassination could not have happened without someone powerful within the government being involved.

The murder would become one of the final blows to Benazir’s government.

Bhutto Dismissed

By this point, President Farooq Leghari was becoming increasingly concerned about Bhutto’s government. The man who had once been her political ally was now openly challenging her over corruption, economic mismanagement and the deteriorating political situation.

Leghari gained the support of the Army Chief and demanded that Bhutto take action. She resigned as Finance Minister and dismissed many of her economic advisers in an attempt to demonstrate that she was taking the crisis seriously.

But Leghari was no longer convinced.

There were also growing suspicions that Murtaza’s murder had involved people close to the Bhutto government. Leghari therefore invoked the same constitutional power that had been used against previous governments. On 5 November 1996, he dismissed Benazir’s government, dissolved the National Assembly and ordered fresh elections. Troops surrounded Bhutto’s residence, while Zardari was arrested and charged with money laundering and involvement in Murtaza’s murder. He would remain in prison for years.

Leghari installed a caretaker government under Malik Meraj Khalid and announced elections for February 1997. Bhutto challenged the dismissal in the Supreme Court, but the court ultimately upheld Leghari’s decision.

For the second time, Benazir Bhutto had been removed from office by a President.

And once again, the Eighth Amendment had played a decisive role.

1997 General Elections

The 1997 elections produced a dramatic result. Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League won an overwhelming majority, while the PPP suffered a major defeat and secured only 18 seats in the National Assembly.

For the first time in years, Nawaz Sharif had something previous Prime Ministers had rarely possessed: a government with a very strong parliamentary majority.

He now had the opportunity to change the political system that had repeatedly brought down elected governments.

Nawaz Sharif second term as prime minister

Nawaz Sharif returned to power determined to make sure that no President could remove him in the same way that previous governments had been removed.

His government therefore immediately began changing the Constitution. The most important target was the Eighth Amendment, which had given the President the power to dismiss the Prime Minister and dissolve Parliament.

But Sharif’s second term would also become one of the most important periods in Pakistan’s nuclear history.

In May 1998, India conducted a series of nuclear tests. Pakistan now faced enormous pressure. If it did nothing, India would have demonstrated a clear nuclear advantage. Bhutto, despite being in opposition, urged Sharif to respond with nuclear tests of his own.

Sharif eventually ordered Pakistan’s first nuclear tests at Chagai.

Pakistan had officially become a nuclear weapons state.

The nuclear tests changed the strategic balance between Pakistan and India, but they also brought international sanctions and further economic pressure onto Pakistan.

During Sharif’s second term, another major infrastructure project from his first government was completed: the M2 motorway connecting Islamabad and Lahore. It became one of the most recognisable infrastructure projects of the period.

Yet the economy remained under severe pressure. Pakistan continued to face high inflation, heavy foreign debt and rising unemployment.

Constitutional war

Sharif now had the parliamentary strength to reshape the political system.

The recurring problem was obvious. Since the creation of the Eighth Amendment, Presidents had repeatedly been able to dismiss elected governments. Sharif wanted to remove this power permanently.

The conflict soon spread beyond the President and Prime Minister and into the judiciary.

Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah became increasingly hostile towards Sharif’s government, while President Leghari also opposed some of Sharif’s actions. But Sharif had one major advantage: the support of the military.

Eventually, Leghari resigned as President, and Parliament passed the Thirteenth Amendment, removing the President’s power under Article 58(2)(b) to dismiss the Prime Minister and dissolve the National Assembly. The President was now largely reduced to a ceremonial role.

Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah was subsequently removed from office, and Wasim Sajjad served as acting President.

Sharif then went further.

The Fourteenth Amendment introduced extremely strict party discipline. Members of Parliament could no longer freely cross the floor or vote against their party leadership without risking losing their seats. This strengthened Sharif’s control over Parliament and made it extremely difficult for opposition politicians to bring down his government through a vote of no confidence.

Sharif had effectively removed two of the major checks that had previously threatened Prime Ministers: the President and rebellious members of Parliament.

But there was still one institution he needed to manage carefully.

The military.

General Jehangir Karamat

Although Nawaz Sharif had initially maintained good relations with the military, tensions began to develop with Army Chief General Jehangir Karamat.

Karamat proposed establishing a National Security Council that would give the military a formal role in national decision-making. Sharif interpreted this as a potential return to the old system where the military could directly influence civilian politics.

Sharif therefore forced Karamat to resign.

He then appointed General Pervez Musharraf as the new Chief of Army Staff.

It was a decision that would eventually come back to haunt him.

Rafiq Tarar as President

With the presidency now stripped of many of its previous powers, Rafiq Tarar became President.

Unlike the powerful presidents of the past, Tarar largely remained a ceremonial figurehead. He kept a low public profile, avoided the media and remained closely loyal to Nawaz Sharif and his family.

For Sharif, the political system finally appeared to be moving in the direction he wanted.

The President could no longer dismiss him.

Parliament was firmly under his control.

The judiciary had been weakened.

And he had appointed his own army chief.

But Pakistan’s next crisis would come from Kashmir.

Bhutto Convicted

While Nawaz Sharif consolidated his power, Benazir Bhutto’s political problems continued.

In April 1999, she was convicted on corruption charges and sentenced to five years in prison, fined $8.6 million and disqualified from holding public office.

Bhutto was outside Pakistan at the time and did not return to serve the sentence. She remained abroad, eventually settling in Dubai and continuing to lead the PPP from outside the country.

1999 Kargil War

The next major confrontation came in Kashmir.

Under General Musharraf’s leadership, Pakistani forces and fighters moved into positions around the Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir, crossing the Line of Control and occupying strategic high-altitude positions.

Initially, Pakistan made gains.

India, however, responded with a major military operation and gradually recaptured the positions. International pressure, particularly from the United States, also increased on Pakistan to withdraw.

The Kargil conflict therefore ended without Pakistan achieving its objectives.

Once again, Pakistan had entered a confrontation with India and was forced to withdraw.

The defeat created a serious breakdown in the relationship between Nawaz Sharif and General Musharraf. Sharif later claimed that he had not been fully informed about the operation, while Musharraf maintained that the civilian leadership had been aware of the plans.

The question of who knew what became one of the great controversies surrounding Kargil.

But the political consequence was clear.

Sharif and Musharraf no longer trusted each other.

General Pervez Musharraf Coup

In October 1999, Nawaz Sharif decided to remove General Musharraf as Army Chief and replace him.

Musharraf was travelling back to Pakistan from Sri Lanka when Sharif announced the decision. Sharif attempted to prevent Musharraf’s aircraft from landing in Karachi and ordered his arrest.

But Musharraf had already anticipated the possibility of being removed.

The military moved quickly.

The armed forces took control of key government installations, arrested Nawaz Sharif and his government, and once again Pakistan’s elected government had been removed by the military.

On 12 October 1999, General Pervez Musharraf assumed control of Pakistan as Chief Executive.

The military accused Nawaz Sharif of corruption and of attempting to hijack Musharraf’s aircraft, along with charges including kidnapping, attempted murder and terrorism. Sharif was convicted and initially sentenced to life imprisonment.

Saudi Arabia then negotiated his release and exile. Sharif was sent to Saudi Arabia under an agreement that restricted his political activity and involved the forfeiture of significant property.

Musharraf justified the coup by arguing that Pakistan’s political institutions had broken down, constitutional checks and balances had been destroyed, and corruption had become entrenched within the political leadership.

And, as had happened with previous military interventions, the coup initially received considerable public support from Pakistanis who were exhausted by political instability and corruption.

The Supreme Court subsequently validated Musharraf’s takeover under the doctrine of state necessity and granted him authority to exercise executive and legislative powers for a limited period.

Pakistan had once again returned to military rule.

And the cycle that had begun with Ayub Khan in 1958 had repeated itself: an elected government became embroiled in political crisis, the military stepped in promising stability, and democracy was suspended once again.