New Delhi: With Imran Khan being ousted from Prime Minister’s Office in Pakistan in the early hours of Sunday, he has joined the list of Pakistan Prime Ministers whose term ended prematurely. 


Pakistan — since its formation in 1947 — has had 29 Prime Ministers so far, but none till date have completed the whole five-year term in the office, with the year 1993 having 5 premiership. 


These prime ministers have been removed on 18 different occasions on different pretexts — corruption charges, forced resignation due to infighting, direct military coups, and one assasination. 


The longest tenure that has been served as Prime Minister of Pakistan has been 4 years and 2 months while the shortest is two weeks. 


Here is a list of Pakistan Prime Ministers since 1947 whose premiership terminated prematurely. The list does not include caretaker PMs and those who completed other prime minister’s tenure. 



  1. Liaquat Ali Khan, tenure- 4 years, 2 months: The first prime minister of Pakistan who took the office in August 1947 was assassinated on October 16, 1951 during a political rally.


  2. Khwaja Nazimuddin, tenure- 1 year, 6 months: Nazimuddin who took the office on October 17,1951 was dismissed by the country's governor general on April 17, 1953 on grounds of mismanagement of religious riots.


  3. Muhammad Ali Bogra, tenure- 2 years, 3 months: Resigned from office on August 11, 1955 after assuming the office on April 17, 1953.


  4. Chaudhri Mohammad Ali, tenure- 1 year, 1 month: Ousted on September 12, 1956 due to internal differences. Took office in August 1955.


  5.  Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy, tenure- 1 year, 1 month: Forced from office due to
    differences with other power centres.


  6. Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar, tenure- less than 2 months: After facing a no-confidence vote, he resigned on December 16, 1957 after he took the office in October 1957.


  7. Malik Feroz Khan Noon, tenure- less than 10 months: Took office on December 16 1957, but was dismissed on October 7, 1958 as martial law was imposed in Pakistan.


  8. Noorul Amin, tenure- less than 2 weeks: Left the office on December 20, 1971 shortly after he took it on December 7, 1971 after Bangladesh’s secession from Pakistan.


  9. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, tenure- 3 years, 11 months: Bhutto took office on August 14, 1973 but was overthrown by a military coup on July 5, 1977 after which he was jailed and executed.


  10. Muhammad Khan Junejo, tenure- 3 years, 2 months: Elected as PM in March 1985 but was dismissed by the military chief on May 28, 1988.


  11. Benazir Bhutto, tenure- 1 year, 8 months: First female leader of a Muslim nation, she took the office on December 2, 1988 but her government was dismissed on August 6, 1990 by the president on charges of corruption.


  12. Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, total tenure- 2 years, 7 months: Elected as PM November 6, 1990 but his government was also dismissed by the president on charges of corruption on April 18, 1993. Though Nawaz Sharif was able to overturn the decision by courts a few weeks later, but again resigned due to differences with the military.


  13. Benazir Bhutto, tenure- Just over 3 years: Returned for a second term on October 19, 1993 but was again dismissed by the president on grounds of misgovernance on November 5, 1996.


  14. Nawaz Sharif, tenure- 2 years, 8 months: Took the office for second term on February 17, 1997 but was overthrown by the military on October 12, 1999.


  15. Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, tenure- 1 year, 7 months: Took office in November 2002 but resigned on June 26, 2004 after differences with the military.


  16. Yousaf Raza Gilani, tenure- 4 years, 1 month: After being elected as PM on March 25, 2008, he was disqualified from the office in 2012 by the Supreme Court on charges of contempt of court.


  17. Nawaz Sharif, tenure- 4 years, 2 months: Elected for the third term on June 5, 2013, he was dismissed on July 28, 2017 by the Supreme Court on charges of concealing assets.


  18. Imran Khan, tenure- 3 years, 7 months: Cricketer-turned-politician, he took the office on August 18, 2018 and was ousted on April 10, 2022 through a no-confidence motion by the Opposition.