Z. A. Bhutto’s Cabinet: A Study of Its Role in Formulation of Economic and Foreign Policy, 1971-1977

Abstract

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s period is very important from the point of view of economic and foreign policy formulation process as Pakistan had to redefine some principles and to identify new methods to deal with the issues. Pakistan was truncated after the loss of East Pakistan in 1971 and needed new and better policies. This paper is an attempt to study the role of the Institution of Cabinet in designing economic and foreign policy in new circumstances. It also studies how power was shared by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet while formulating Pakistan’s economic and foreign policy. It also looks into the matter that the Cabinet of Z. A. Bhutto which was powerful to deal with the economic affairs was not given leverage in dealing with the foreign policy matters. Economic Ministries including Finance, Economic Affairs, Industries, Commerce and Trade were dominated by the leftist Ministers till 1974 and by the rightist in later years. At the same time, Prime Minister decided some crucial foreign policy matters especially related to India, sometimes, without prior involvement of the Cabinet in deciding post-war issues. The paper has been divided into two parts: Part I deals with the Cabinet’s contribution in economic policy arena and the Part II deals with the role of the Cabinet in foreign policy formulation process. This research paper has been mostly produced on the basis of primary source material which includes the record of the Cabinet meetings; its minutes, summaries and working papers presented to the Cabinet, and decisions, record of the meetings of the Cabinet Committees, Ministries of the Economic and Foreign Affairs and of the Governors’ Conferences. It further includes the record of the National Assembly’s Proceedings and Debates, biographies of various Ministers of the era and the works produced by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto himself and by his various Ministers on the working of his government. A lot of secondary works, produced by national and international scholars have also been consulted to evaluate and analyze the related facts.