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The Prime Minister is elected by the National Assembly, members of which are elected by popular vote. Most commonly, the leader of the party or coalition with the most votes becomes the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is responsible for appointing a cabinet. The President has the constitutional reserve power to remove the Prime Minister, through a dissolution of the National Assembly, triggering new elections. The Seventeenth Amendment imposed a check on this power, making it subject to Supreme Court approval or veto. The office of Prime Minister did not exist during three periods of Pakistan's history, a circumstance different from a vacancy in the office, as a result of the dismissal of an individual Prime Minister by the President. In the first two cases, Pakistan had no Prime Minister from October 7, 1958 until July 3, 1972, and from July 5, 1977 until March 24, 1985 � periods of martial law. During these periods, the President, who was the chief martial law administrator, effectively had the powers of Prime Minister as the head of government, without the title of Prime Minister. In the third case, after Pervez Musharraf's coup, Pakistan did not have a Prime Minister from October 12, 1999 to November 20, 2002. During this time, Musharraf, holding the office of Chief Executive, was effectively the Head of Government. Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani is the currently 26th Prime Minister of Pakistan. |