The Liaquat Ali Khan government, commonly abbreviated as the L.A Khan government or Ali Khan administration was the first

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

and cabinet of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

which ruled from 1947 to 1951, and was led by

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan (1 October 189516 October 1951) was a Pakistani lawyer, politician and statesman who served as the first prime minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the he ...

. The government was founded on 15 August 1947, almost immediately after the

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

and Pakistan's independence. The founder of Pakistan,

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 187611 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pa ...

tasked Liaquat Ali Khan, a leading figure in Pakistan's independence to form an administration and consolidate the new Pakistani governments’ control, while Jinnah himself opted for the more the ceremonial position of

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

''(

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

).'' The administration would be led by the newly formed Muslim League, while the cabinet would be composed of several

Pakistan movement activists Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. Islamabad is the nat ...

and members of the Muslim League. The government's main focus was recovering from the bloody partition of India, which took the lives of over 1 million people. The government also faced increasing challenges from Communist opposition, Princely state annexations and mainly the outbreak of war with India. The government tenure of Liaquat Ali Khan oversaw the consolidation of the new state of ‘Pakistan’, he did so effectively by laying the administrative groundwork for Pakistan's constitution in the 1949 Objectives Resolution. Liaquat's government would not function as a democracy; instead Muslim League-rule was implemented. The legislature of the government would consist of the

Constituent Assembly of Pakistan The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was the supreme federal legislature of the Dominion of Pakistan. It was established in August 1947 with the primary tasks of framing Constitution of Pakistan of 1956, a constitution; and serving as an interim ...

. The governor-general, Jinnah died in 1948 and was replaced by

Khawaja Nazimuddin Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin (19 July 1894 – 22 October 1964), also spelled Khwaja Nazimuddin, was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the second Governor-General of Pakistan from 1948 to 1951, and later as the second Prime Minister ...

who ruled till the governments end in 1951. The government would dissolve in 1951, when Liaquat Ali Khan would be

assassinated Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

under mysterious circumstances. Governor-general Khawaja Nazimuddin would then take office as second prime minister of Pakistan and would form the second government in Pakistan's history after Liaquat died, though the same cabinet and constituent assembly continued from Liaquat's government.First Constituent Assembly of Pakistan 1947-1954, List of Members and Addresses - National Assembly of Pakistan
/ref>

Cabinet composition

Liaquat Ali Khan's cabinet, called the Ali Khan Cabinet consisted of many seasoned politicians, statesmen and activists of the

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation the ...

, with Liaquat himself regarded as a seasoned politician. Upon the cabinet's formation, Liaquat Ali Khan, alongside his already existing role as

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, assumed the roles of Minister for Foreign Affairs,

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

, and Minister of States and Frontier Regions. Though, as the government and cabinet progressed, these roles were handed over to multiple diverse ministers.

History

Timeline

On 14 August 1947, The

began as Pakistan was declared as an independent state and Jinnah was placed as Pakistan's first

. Following this on 15 August 1947, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan formed an administration, Liaquat Ali Khan was sworn in as first prime minister of Pakistan. Ministries, cabinets and the government were all formed. In the following months of the governments formation, refugees from the partition were taken, courts, juries, agencies and positions were established, relations and embassies with foreign nations were also established. In October 1947, following tensions skyrocketing between the Dominions of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

over the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir, the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947-48 broke out. On 11 September 1948, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Governor-General died in office due to

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. Four days later, on 14 September 1948,

is chosen as the second governor-general of Pakistan following Jinnah's death. On 1 January 1949, the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947-48 officially ended with a proclamation of a ceasefire by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. On 7 March 1949, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan presented the

Objectives Resolution The Objectives Resolution () was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on 12 March 1949. The resolution proclaimed that the future constitution of Pakistan would not be modeled entirely on a European p ...

unto the Constituent assembly of Pakistan, Out of 75 members of the assembly, 21 voted for opposing it. All the amendments proposed by minority members were rejected. Consequently, all ten of them voted against it. The resolution was passed and laid the groundwork for Pakistan's future constitutions. In March 1951, members of the

Communist Party of Pakistan The Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP; Urdu: ) is a communist party in Pakistan founded in 1948 by Sajjad Zaheer. History The Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP) was founded in Calcutta, India, soon after the establishment of Pakistan on 6 March ...

plotted to overthrow the L.A Khan government in the

Rawalpindi Conspiracy The Rawalpindi conspiracy was an attempted coup to overthrow Liaquat Ali Khan, the first prime minister of Pakistan, in March 1951. It was the first of many subsequent coup attempts against governments in the history of Pakistan. The coup was n ...

. The plot failed and the conspirators were arrested by Liaquat's government law enforcement. On 16 October 1951, Prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan is shot twice and dies in office due to his injuries, dissolving the government.

Legislature

The first unicameral legislature of

formed after the

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

. There were 100 Members of Parliament, including 44 from

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

, 17 from

West Punjab West Punjab (; ) was a province in the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. It was established from the western-half of British Punjab, following the independence of Pakistan. The province covered an area of 159,344 km sq (61523 sq mi), i ...

, 3 from the Northwest Frontier Province, 4 from

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

, and 1 from

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

. Four of West Punjab's 17 allocated seats were laid vacant.

Notes

References

Additional Sources

K. Sarwar Hasan, 1951. THE FOREIGN POLICY OF MR. LIAQUAT ALI KHAN
{{Liaquat Ali Khan Pakistani federal ministries Cabinets established in 1947 Cabinets disestablished in 1951 Constituent Assembly of Pakistan