The Presidential form of Government had totally failed in Pakistan as it took the entire country to the brink of complete destruction during the Ayub Khan days or following the 1965 war.

Sikandar Mirza imposed Martial Law in the country after he was sure that he could not win the elections and retain power. After three weeks, Ayub Khan, as Chief of The Army Staff, deposed Sikandar Mirza and dispatched him to London and became Chief Martial Law administrator. He misruled the country to an extreme extent instigating massive agitation against his Presidential system and people demanded his resignation or his instant removal.

It was an irony that the Ayub Khan clamped Martial Law and abrogated his own 1962 Constitution and refused to hand over power to a Bengali Vice-President under his own constitution. He himself rejected the Presidential form of Government after experiencing it for more than a decade. There were massive agitations in all parts of undivided Pakistan and finally forced Ayub Khan to resign and quit power paving the way for another Martial Law by General Yahya Khan.

The people from all the Federating Units rejected the unitary form of Government or the Presidential system and sought expulsion of the absolute ruler and returning to Federal and Parliamentary System. It was the unanimous demand of all the political parties involved in massive agitation in 1969.

Naïve people in politics, some of them retired officials and public servants and Mr. Imran Khan demanded Presidential System presumably for himself to become the absolute ruler and with no accountability from the Parliament and other democratic institutions.

For this specific reason, the people in general rejected the Presidential system and demand a return to Federal Parliamentary system of Government with maximum powers to the Federating Units with the democratic concept of devolution of powers to the lowest level. The highly centralized Government should be banished with devolution of powers to the lowest level.

Pakistan was created by the Federating Units who joined the country voluntarily by surrendering necessary powers to run the Central Government. The lands belonged to the Provinces. Whatever land the Central Government got was gifted by the Provinces and the State institutions had built all the installations, services and facilities on that gifted land.

Pakistan had not brought any land with its creation. It was a concept given reality by the Federating Units by joining it voluntarily.  It was the provinces that joined voluntarily the Pakistani Federation with powers to run the state affairs, including defence, finance and foreign affairs.

On the contrarily, the Federating Units are also ‘autonomous and independent’ within the framework of one Pakistan. They are not subservient to the Central Government or any absolute ruler who captured power using questionable means. The Prime Minister or any other ruler had no right to dictate the provinces or Provincial Governments as they get their own Administration, Legislature, elected Assembly parallel to the Federal Government.

Thus the Presidential form of Government is unanimously rejected by the entire people of Pakistan as back as in 1960s after massive agitation and protest against the undemocratic system. It is highly centralized form of Government which is not suitable to the Federation like Pakistan.

Concentration of absolute powers in one person, which religious parties and their leaders termed Caliph. Under the prevailing security environment in Pakistan and its surroundings, it is necessary that heart and mind of the people of all the Provinces should be won by granting them more power and resources.

It is far better that the Central Government should retain minimum power necessary for integrity and sovereignty of the country transferring rest of the powers to the Provincial Government. More autonomy will boost confidence of the people in defending the security of the country in the present crisis.