The evolution of Pakistan Constitution

Pakistan became a republic when its first constitution was approved in 1956 but this was abrogated in 1958 after a military Coup d'état. Pakistan's second constitution was approved in 1962. It granted executive power to the president and abolished the office of the prime minister. It also institutionalised the intervention of military in politics by providing that for twenty years, the president or the defence minister must be a person who had held a rank not lower than that of lieutenant-general in the army. The 1962 constitution was suspended in 1969 and abrogated in 1972. The 1973 constitution was the first in Pakistan to be framed by elected representatives. Unlike the 1962 constitution it gave Pakistan a parliamentary democracy with executive power concentrated in the office of the prime minister, and the formal head of state-the president-limited to acting on the advice of the prime minister. The Constitution states that all laws are to conform with the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Quran and Sunnah. The 1973 Constitution also created certain institutions such as the Shariat Court and the Council of Islamic Ideology to channel the interpretation and application of Islam.