| Cabinet Name: | First Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Government |
| Cabinet Number: | 17th and 18th |
| Jurisdiction: | Pakistan |
| Date Formed: | 14 August 1973 |
| Date Dissolved: | 30 March 1977 |
| Government Head: | Zulfikar Ali Bhutto |
| Deputy Government Head Title: | Deputy Prime Minister |
| State Head: | Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry |
| Political Party: | Pakistan People's Party |
| Legislature Status: | Majority government |
| Legislature Term: | 5th National Assembly of Pakistan |
| Successor: | Second Zulfikar |
| Incumbent: | 1973-1977 |
The First Zulfikar Ali Bhutto government was the government of Pakistan led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto from 1973 until 1977. It was formed after the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan was passed by the Parliament of Pakistan which fully re-established Pakistan as a parliamentary democracy.[1] [2] The government would oversee two different cabinets due to reshuffles, the First Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Cabinet ruled from 1973 until 1974, when the cabinet was reshuffled by Bhutto to the Second Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Cabinet which ruled from 1974 to 1977, which is when general elections were held, and the government was succeeded.[3]
The prime minister of the government, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was acclaimed as a powerful and skilled politician[4] who had served as President of Pakistan under a presidential system government from 1971 to 1973. He was sworn in as the prime minister of the country on 14 August 1973, after securing 108 votes in a house of 146 members. Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry was elected as the president under the new constitution.[5] During its five years of government, the Bhutto administration implemented extensive reforms at every level of governance.[6] Capital and Western reforms initiated and built in 1947 were transformed and replaced with a socialist system throughout the 1970s with extensive nationalization. Bhutto's policies were perceived as people-friendly but failed to yield long-lasting effects, and civil disorder against Bhutto and his administration began to escalate in his second government in 1977.[7]
| Name | Portfolio | Period | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zulfikar Ali Bhutto | 1. Prime Minister2. Cabinet Division 3. Ministry of Defence 4. Ministry of Foreign Affairs 5. Ministry of Industries 6. Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission | 17 August 1973 to 22 October 1974 | |
| Jalaludin Abdur Rahim | 1. Ministry of Production 2. Town Planning & Agrovilles 3. Ministry of Commerce | 17 August 1973 to 2 July 1974 | |
| Abdul Qayyum Khan | Ministry of Interior, States & Frontier Regions and Kashmir Affairs | 17 August 1973 to 22 October 1974 | |
| Mubashir Hassan | Ministry of Finance, Planning & Development | 17 August 1973 to 22 October 1974 | |
| Hayat Sherpao | Ministry of Fuel, Power and Natural Resources | 17 August 1973 to 13 February 1974 | |
| Sheikh Mohammad Rashid | 1. Ministry of Health & Social Welfare 2. Chairman, Federal Land Commission | 17 August 1973 to 22 October 1974 23 December 1973 to 22 October 1974 | |
| Khurshid Hasan Meer | 1. Minister without portfolio 2. Looked after the work of Establishment Division and Ministry of Science and Technology 3. Ministry of Communications 4. Ministry of Railways (Temporarily) | 17 August 1973 to 22 October 1974 17 August 1973 to 22 October 1974 23 December 1973 to 22 October 1974 30 August 1974 to 22 October 1974 | |
| Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi | Ministry of Political Affairs & Communications | 17 August 1973 to 23 December 1973 | |
| Abdul Hafiz Pirzada | 1. Ministry of Education and Provincial Coordination 2. Ministry of Law & Parliamentary Affairs | 17 August 1973 to 22 October 1974 | |
| Maulana Kausar Niazi | Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Auqaf and Hajj | 17 August 1973 to 22 October 1974 | |
| Ghous Bakhsh Raisani | Ministry of Food, Agriculture & Rural Development | 17 August 1973 to 13 February 1974 | |
| Muhammad Hanif | 1. Ministry of Labour & Works 2. Ministry of Fuel, Power and Natural Resources (Temporarily) | 17 August 1973 to 22 October 1974 13 February 1974 to 22 October 1974 | |
| Tridev Roy | Ministry of Minorities Affairs & Tourism | 14 August 1973 to 22 October 1974 | |
| Rafi Raza | 1. Production 2. Commerce | 3 July 1974 to 22 October 1974 | |
| Mahmud Ali | National Affairs, Overseas Pakistanis and Prisons | 14 August 1973 to 13 February 1974 | |
| Jamal Dar | Public Affairs | 17 August 1973 to 22 October 1974 | |
| Aziz Ahmad | Defence and Foreign Affairs | 17 August 1973 to 22 October 1974 |
As part of a reshuffle, Prime minister Ali Bhutto removed certain ministers. The new ministers were sworn in October 1974.[8]
| Name | Portfolio | Period | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zulfikar Ali Bhutto | 1. Prime Minister2. Ministry of Defence 3. Ministry of Foreign Affairs 4. Ministry of Interior, States and Frontier Regions | 22 October 1974 to 28 March 1977 22 October 1974 to 28 March 1977 13 January 1977 to 28 March 1977 | |
| Abdul Qayyum Khan | Ministry of Interior, States & Frontier Regions | 22 October 1974 to 13 January 1977 | |
| Sheikh Mohammad Rashid | 1. Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Cooperative Works, Under Developed Areas and Land Reforms | 22 October 1974 to 5 February 1976 5 September 1976 to 28 March 1977 | |
| Khurshid Hasan Meer | Ministry of Labour, Health, Social Welfare and Population Planning | 22 October 1974 to 18 December 1974 | |
| Abdul Hafiz Pirzada | 1. Ministry of Education, Science & Technology and Provincial Coordination 2. Ministry of Education and Provincial Coordination | 22 October 1974 to 5 February 1976 5 February 1976 to 28 March 1977 | |
| Rana Mohammad Hanif Khan | Ministry of Finance, Planning & Economic Affairs | 22 October 1974 to 28 March 1977 | |
| Malik Meraj Khalid | 1. Ministry of Law & Parliamentary Affairs 2. Ministry of Labour, Health Social Welfare and Population Planning 3. Ministry of Social Welfare, Local Government, and Rural Development | 22 October 1974 to 5 February 1976 21 December 1974 to 10 January 1975 5 February 1976 to 27 March 1977 | |
| Mumtaz Bhutto | Ministry of Communications | 22 October 1974 to 28 March 1977 | |
| Rafi Raza | Ministry of Production Industries and Town Planning | 22 October 1974 to 28 March 1977 | |
| Maulana Kausar Niazi | 1. Ministry of Religious Affairs 2. Ministry of Religious Affairs, Minority Affairs and Overseas Pakistanis | 22 October 1974 to 5 February 1976 5 February 1976 to 28 March 1977 | |
| Yusuf Khattak | Ministry of Fuel, Power and Natural Resources | 22 October 1974 to 13 January 1977 | |
| Mir Afzal Khan | 1. Ministry of Commerce 2. Ministry of Commerce and Tourism | 22 October 1974 to 5 February 1976 5 February 1976 to 28 March 1977 | |
| Yahya Bakhtiar | Attorney General for Pakistan | 22 October 1974 to 28 March 1977 | |
| Hafizullah Cheema | 1. Ministry of Labour, Health, Social Welfare and Population Planning 2. Ministry of Railways | 10 January 1975 to 5 February 1976 5 February 1976 to 28 March 1977 | |
| Syed Qaim Ali Shah | 1. Ministry of Industries, Kashmir Affairs & Northern Affairs 2. Ministry of Agrarian Management, Kashmir Affairs & Northern Affairs | 5 February 1976 to 17 July 1976 17 July 1976 to 28 March 1977 | |
| Malik Mohammad Akhtar | 1. Ministry of Law & Parliamentary Affairs 2. Ministry of Fuel Power and Natural Resources | 5 February 1976 to 28 March 1977 20 January 1977 to 28 March 1977 | |
| Mohammad Haneef Khan | Ministry of Information & Broadcasting | 5 February 1976 to 28 March 1977 | |
| Syed Nasir Ali Rizvi | Ministry of Housing & Works and Urban Development | 5 February 1976 to 28 March 1977 | |
| Taj Muhammad Jamali | Ministry of Labour, Manpower, Health and Population Planning | 5 February 1976 to 28 March 1977 | |
| Mian Mohammad Ataullah | Ministry of Industries | 17 July 1976 to 28 March 1977 |