On April 1 1976, in a surprise move, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, appointed Zia-ul-Haq as the Chief of the Army Staff. It is interesting to note that five senior Generals were superseded. Bhutto probably wanted somebody as the head of the armed forces, who would not prove to be a threat for him and the best available option was the simple General, who apparently was interested only in offering prayers and playing golf. However, history proved Bhutto wrong, and Zia-ul-Haq proved to be much smarter than he looked. When the political unsuitability reached its climax due to the deadlock between Bhutto and the leadership of Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) on the issue of general elections, Zia-ul-Haq took advantage of the situation. On July 5, 1977, he carried out a bloodless coup overthrowing Bhutto’s government and enforced Marshal Law in the country. After assuming power as Chief Martial Law Administrator, Zia-ul-Haq promised to hold National and Provincial Assembly elections in the next 90 days and to hand over power to the representatives of the nation. However, in October 1977 he announced the postponement of the electoral plan and decided to start an accountability process of the politicians. In a statement he said that he changed his decision due to the strong public demand for the scrutiny of political leaders who had indulged in malpractice in the past. The Disqualification Tribunal was formulated and many former Members of Parliament were disqualified from participating in politics at any level for the next seven years. A white paper was also issued which criticized the activities of PPP’s government under Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

With the retirement of Fazl Ellahi, Zia-ul-Haq also assumed the office of President of Pakistan on September 16 1978. In the absence of a parliament, Zia-ul-Haq decided to set up an alternative system. He introduced Majlis-i-Shura in 1980. Most of the members of the Shura were intellectuals; scholars, ulema, journalists, economists and professionals belonging to different fields of life. The Shura was to act as a board of advisors for the President. The idea of establishing this institution was not bad but the main problem was that all 284 members of the Shura were to be nominated by the President and thus there was no room available for the difference of opinion.

In the mid 1980s, Zia-ul-Haq decided to fulfill his promise of holding elections in the country. But before handing over the power to the public representatives, he decided to secure his position. Referendum was held in the country in December 1984 and the masses were given the option to elect or reject the General as the future president of Pakistan. According to the official result, more than 95% of the vote cast, were in favor of Zia-ul-Haq and he was elected as president for the next five years. Here one should not ignore the fact that the question asked in the referendum was phrased in a way that Zia-ul-Haq’s win was related to the process of Islamization in the country.

After being elected as President, Zia-ul-Haq decided to hold elections in the country in February 1985 on non-party basis. Most of the political parties decided to boycott the elections but election results showed that many victors belonged to one party or the other. To make things easier for him, the General nominated the Prime Minister from amongst the members of the Assembly. To many, his nomination of Muhammad Khan Junejo as the Prime Minister was because he wanted a simple person at the post, who could act as a puppet in his hands. Before handing over the power to the new government he made certain amendments in the constitution and got them endorsed from the parliament before lifting the sate of emergency in the country. Due to this eighth amendment in the constitution, the powers of president were increased and the president possessed complete power to take any step, which he deems fit, on the plea of safeguarding national integrity. As the time passed, the parliamentarians wanted to have more freedom and power. By the beginning of 1988, rumors about the differences between the Prime Minister and Zia-ul-Haq were in the air. The general feeling was that the President, who had enjoyed absolute power for eight long years, was not ready to share it with anybody else. On May 29, 1988, Zia-ul-Haq finally dissolved the National Assembly and removed the Prime Minister under article 58 (2) B of the amended constitution. Apart from many other reasons, Junejo’s decision to sign the Geneva Accord against the wishes of Zia-ul-Haq proved to be one of the major factors responsible for him going back home. After 11 years, Zia-u-Haq once again made the same promise with the nation to hold fresh elections within next 90 days. With Benazir Bhutto back in the country and Muslim League leadership annoyed with the President over the decision of May 29, Zia-ul-Haq was trapped in the most difficult situation of his political life. The only option left for him was to repeat history and to postpone the elections once again.

However, before taking any decision, Zia-ul-Haq died in an air crash near Bahawalpur on August 17, 1988. The accident proved to be very costly for the country as almost the entire military elite of Pakistan was on the board. Though United States’ Ambassador to Pakistan was also killed in the misfortune, yet many do not rule-out US involvement in the sabotage. They believe that United States could not afford Pakistan to oppose Geneva Accord and thus they removed the biggest hurdle in their way. The remains of Zia-ul-Haq were buried in the premises of Faisal Mosque, Islamabad. The tragic death brought a large number of mourners to attend his funeral, which proved to be one of the biggest in the history of the country.