pakistan+government


 * 1947 to 1956: Jinnah ruled the [|Dominion of Pakistan] in the [|Commonwealth of Nations].
 * 1956 to 1969: a Republic but the civilian rule was stalled by a coup d’état by General [|Ayub Khan]
 * 1969-1971: [|Yahya Khan] presided over a devastating [|cyclone] which caused 500,000 deaths in East Pakistan.
 * 1971: Indian intervened in a civil war over east Pakistan that led to the creation of the independent state of Bangladesh.
 * 1972-1977: Civilian rule resumed in Pakistan under [|Zulfikar Ali Bhutto] until he was deposed and sentenced to death.
 * 1977: General [|Zia-ul-Haq] became the country's third military president, introduced the Islamic [|Sharia] legal code, which increased religious influences on the civil service and the military.
 * 1988: death of President Zia in a plane crash in 1988, [|Benazir Bhutto], daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was elected as the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan.
 * 1999: Military coup d'etat gave General [|Pervez Musharraf] vast executive powers.
 * 2001: [|Rafiq Tarar] resigned as president and Musharraf became president.
 * 2002: Musharraf transfered power to an elected Prime Minister [|Zafarullah Khan Jamali].
 * 2004: [|Shaukat Aziz] was elected prime minister.
 * 2007: for the first time in Pakistani history, a prime minister completed his tenure and new elections were held. The exiled political leaders Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were permitted to return to Pakistan. However, the [|assassination of Benazir Bhutto] during the election campaign in December led to postponement of elections and nationwide riots. Bhutto's [|Pakistan Peoples Party] (PPP) won the largest number of seats in the elections held in February 2008 and its member [|Yousaf Raza Gillani] was sworn in as Prime Minister.
 * 2008: Pervez Musharraf resigned from the presidency when threatened with [|impeachment] and succeeded by current president [|Asif Ali Zardari].
 * 2009: more than 3 million Pakistani civilians have been displaced by the on going [|conflict in North-West Pakistan] between the government and Taliban militants.