The caretaker government system in Pakistan is being viewed with increased scepticism because a majority of caretaker set-ups were neither neutral nor could their presence guarantee free and fair elections
The framers of the original 1973 Constitution had apparently visualised Pakistan as a normal democratic state, and therefore, did not include any provision for a caretaker government during elections. Even the part-real and part-perceived rigging in the 1977 general election did not justify the institution of a system of caretaker governments.
But the martial law government led by Gen Zia-ul Haq, in its typical non-political and over-simplistic way of ‘solving’ political problems, injected the system of caretaker governments into Pakistan’s Constitution in 1985 through the Revival of Constitutional Order (RCO).
But the martial law government led by Gen Zia-ul Haq, in its typical non-political and over-simplistic way of ‘solving’ political problems, injected the system of caretaker governments into Pakistan’s Constitution in 1985 through the Revival of Constitutional Order (RCO).