Military coups in Pakistan  Military coups in Pakistan began in 1958 There have been numerous successful attempts since 1951. Since its creation in 1947, Pakistan has spent several decades under military rule (1958 – 1971, 1977 – 1988, 1999 – 2008). In 1953, the Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad dismissed the government of the Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin despite it enjoying the support of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan; then in 1954 he dismissed the Constituent Assembly itself to prevent it changing the constitution to restrict the Governor-General's powers. In doing this he had the support of General Ayub Khan who provided troops to control communications with London so as to avoid any possibility of the Queen being advised to replace the Governor-General. The failure of the courts to support representative institutions in "Federation of Pakistan v. Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan" provided a pattern which latter led to more open military intervention against elected governments to be justified using a doctrine of necessity. In 1958, the first Pakistani President Major General Iskander Mirza dismissed the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan and the government of Prime Minister Feroz Khan Noon, appointing army commander-in-chief Gen. Ayub Khan as the Chief martial law administrator. Thirteen days later, Mirza himself was exiled by Ayub Khan, who appointed himself president. Operation Fair Play was the code name for the coup d'etat conducted at midnight on July 4, 1977 by the Pakistan military, led by Chief of Army Staff General Zia-ul-Haq, against the government of then-Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. General Zia ordered the arrest of Bhutto, his ministers and other leaders of both the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan National Alliance. In a nationally televised address, General Zia announced that the National Assembly of Pakistan and all provincial assemblies were dissolved, and that the Constitution of Pakistan was suspended. The martial law enforced by President General Zia, it introduced the strict but modern form of conservatism which promoted the nationalistic and religious programmes. In October, 1999 senior officers loyal to army chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf arrested prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his ministers after thwarting the Sharif regime's attempt to dismiss Musharraf and prevent his plane from landing in Pakistan as he returned from a visit to Sri Lanka. The death of Zia-ul-Haq led to the appointment of Ghulam Ishaq Khan as President. Khan had vast, unchecked Presidential powers and was known to be close to the Pakistani military.