A system of medium-term planning is introduced in 1958 with the belated publication of the first five-year plan (1955-60).
Societal violence and ethnic unrest further complicate the growth and functioning of parliamentary government.
Khan Sahib finds his hold over the West Pakistan legislature slipping, and he asks the president to suspend the constitution.
President Mirza has made no secret of his dissatisfaction with the working of parliamentary democracy in Pakistan.
Fed up with the bickering and opportunism that pervades Pakistani politics, Mirza, on October 7, 1958 abrogates the constitution, bans political parties, cancels the elections scheduled for January 1959, and declares martial law, with General Mohammad Ayub Khan, the army Commander-in-Chief, as chief martial law administrator.
Mirza announces that the martial-law period will be brief and that a new constitution would be drafted.
Mirza has the support of the army as well as the civil service bureaucracy, which harbors deep suspicions of politicians.
On October 27, he swears in his new Cabinet.
General Ayub becomes prime minister, and three lieutenant generals are named to the Cabinet.
The eight civilian members include businessmen and lawyers, one being a young newcomer, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
On the evening of October 27, the new military ministers call on the president, with contingents of armed soldiers, and inform him that he is to resign.
After a short interval, Mirza is exiled to London.
A proclamation issued by Ayub announces his assumption of the presidency.
He justifies his assumption of power by citing the nation's need for stability and the necessity for the army to play a central role.
The imposition of martial law targets "antisocial" practices such as abducting women and children, black marketeering, smuggling, and hoarding.
Many in the Civil Service of Pakistan and Police Service of Pakistan are investigated and punished for corruption, misconduct, inefficiency, or subversive activities.
Ayub Khan's message is clear: he, not the civil servants, is in control.
Ayub Khan and his fellow officers decide to turn out the "inefficient and rascally" politicians, against whom sterner measures are used.
The Public and Representative Office Disqualification Act (PRODA) prescribes fifteen years' exclusion from public office for those found guilty of corruption.
The Elective Bodies Disqualification Order (EBDO) authorizes special tribunals to try former politicians for "misconduct," an infraction not clearly defined.
Prosecution can be avoided if the accused agrees not to be a candidate for any elective body for a period of seven years.
About 7,000 individuals are "EBDOed." Some people, including Suhrawardy, who is arrested, fight prosecution.
Efforts are made to popularize the regime while the opposition is muzzled.
Ayub Khan's philosophy is indebted to the Mughal and viceregal traditions; his rule is similarly highly personalized.
He maintains a high public profile, often taking trips expressly to "meet the people." He is also aware of the need to address some of the acute grievances of East Pakistan.
To the extent possible, only Bengali members of the civil service are posted in the East Wing; previously, many of the officers had been from the West Wing and knew neither the region nor the language.
