President Farooq Leghari dismissed Bhutto's second government and dissolved the National Assembly over corruption and mismanagement charges.
On October 12, 1996, Benazir Bhutto's second term as Prime Minister of Pakistan came to an abrupt end when President Farooq Leghari invoked constitutional powers to dismiss her government and dissolve the National Assembly. The dismissal was justified on grounds of alleged corruption, mismanagement, and the unresolved circumstances surrounding the assassination of her brother, Murtaza Bhutto, earlier that year.
This marked the second time Bhutto had been removed from office before completing a full term, following a similar dismissal of her first government in 1990. The pattern underscored the fragility of civilian democratic rule in Pakistan during this era, where presidents wielded sweeping powers under the Eighth Amendment to dismiss elected governments, and where the military and intelligence establishment continued to exercise significant influence over the political process.
Following her dismissal, Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, faced prolonged imprisonment on corruption charges, and Bhutto herself would eventually go into self-imposed exile. The event significantly shaped the subsequent trajectory of Pakistani politics, contributing to years of political instability, and set the stage for her eventual dramatic return to Pakistan in 2007.