Official name

Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Form of state

Federal parliamentary democracy

The executive

Asif Ali Zardari was elected president in September 2008. Yusuf Raza Gilani is the prime minister and head of the government

National legislature

The National Assembly (the lower house) has 342 seats, 272 of which are elected on a first-past-the-post basis. Of the remainder, 60 are reserved for women and ten for non-Muslim minorities; they are allocated, on the basis of proportional representation, to parties that win more than 5% of the directly elected seats. The Senate (the upper house) has 100 members. Of these, 22 are elected by each of the four provincial assemblies, eight are tribal representatives and four are representatives from the lower house

National elections

Elections for the National Assembly took place in February 2008; the next National Assembly election is due in 2013. A presidential election was held in September 2008; the next presidential poll is due to take place in September 2013. An election for one-half of the seats in the Senate was held in March 2009; the next Senate election (also for one-half of the seats in the chamber) is due in March 2012

National government

The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), or PML (N)-the two parties that won most seats in the February 2008 National Assembly election-led a coalition government until August 2008, when the PML (N) left the coalition

Provincial government

Elections for Pakistan's four provincial assemblies were held in February 2008 alongside the National Assembly election. The provinces enjoy considerable autonomy, and this has caused tensions with central government

Main political organisations

PPP; PML (N); Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam), or PML (Q); Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA, which comprises six religious parties, including Jamaat-i-Islami and Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islami); Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM); National Alliance (comprising several small parties led by the Millat Party); Awami National Party (ANP); Tehrik-i-Insaf (TI); Jiye Sindh Qaumi Mahaz

President: Asif Ali Zardari

Prime minister: Yusuf Raza Gilani

Key ministers

Commerce: Makhdoom Amin Fahim

Defence: Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar

Finance: Abdul Hafeez Shaikh

Foreign affairs: Vacant

Industries & production: Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo

Information & broadcasting: Firdous Ashiq Awan

Interior: Rehman Malik

Investment: Saleem Mandviwalla

Labour & manpower: Khurshid Ahmed Shah

Law, justice & parliamentary affairs: Babar Awan

Planning & development: Makhdoom Shahabuddin

Privatisation: Naveed Qamar

Central bank governor

Shahid Kardar