Coup d’état is a term associated with any regime change carried out through promulgation of Martial Law. It is a French expression adopted universally to describe any regime change through use of force.
Pakistan had experienced its first coup d’état eleven years after its coming into being, when General Ayub Khan, in league with President Iskandar Mirza, abrogated the constitution of 1956 and promulgated Martial Law (which came in two steps— first on October 7, 1958 and the second exactly twenty days later when Iskandar Mirza was also removed).
The second coup d’état was carried out on March 25 1969 when General Yahya Khan abrogated the constitution of 1962 and took power from his boss Field Marshal Ayub Khan.
The third coup d’état occurred on July 5, 1977 when General Zia ul Haque suspended the 1973 constitution, promulgated Marshal Law and took over from his boss Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto.
On October 12, 1999, military action again caused a regime change when General Pervez Musharraf suspended 1973 Constitution (yet again) and took over from Mian Nawaz Sharif.
This too was a coup d’état, though it was carried out with great subtleness.
In between, there had been a regime change of quite another kind which too though involved the Power of the Uniform, yet wasn’t accompanied with the suspension of the constitution. One Prime Minister (Mian Nawaz Sharif) was forced to resign, to be replaced by an interim Prime Minister (Moeen Qureshi) and then succeeded by an elected one (Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto).
This was General Abdul Waheed Kakar model of Regime Change. It had been preceded by a regime change without the use of the military might (August 6, 1990 when BB’s government was dismissed by President Ghulam Ishaque Khan) and was followed by yet another regime change without Army’s direct involvement, on October 4, 1996 (when President Farooq Leghari removed BB’s second government).
In April 2016, the political climate of Pakistan is abuzz with the speculations and rumours of the likelihood of yet another regime change which may be quite different from the previous ones, and create altogether a new era.
On 23 March, 1956, Pakistan’s First Republic was born.
Second Republic was born under Field Marshal Ayub Khan.
And the Third Republic was born under the 1973 constitution.
Is Pakistan heading towards the birth of the Fourth Republic? It is a million dollar question. If the answer unfolds as YES, the new version of the regime change will be known as General Raheel Sharif model.
