Svetlana Velmar-Janković

Second Pakistani Constituent Assembly election

← 1947 21 June 1955 (1955-06-21) 1962 →
← outgoing members elected members →
72 seats in the Constituent Assembly 37 seats needed for a majority
Registered	404
First party Second party Third party   Leader Mohammad Ali Bogra A. K. Fazlul Huq Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Party PML UF AL Leader since 1953 1954 1950 Last election 59 New New Seats won 25 16 12 Seat change 34 16 12
Prime Minister before election Mohammad Ali Bogra PML New Prime Minister Chaudhri Muhammad Ali PML–UF coalition

On 21 June 1955, seven years after the independence of Pakistan, the election for the Second Constituent Assembly was held through the votes of provincial members of all provinces of the country. The resulting Assembly remained in existence until 1958, when it was dissolved following the imposition of military rule by the interim president Iskander Mirza.^[1]

On 24 October 1954, governor-general Malik Ghulam Muhammad dissolved the first Constituent Assembly, leading to another Constituent Assembly election in the Dominion of Pakistan. Because there was no constitution or procedures for a general election, the election was conducted indirectly through members of the provincial assemblies. Multiple political parties from both Eastern and Western Pakistan participated in the election.

As the founding party of the country, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) achieved significant dominance in the Western provinces. However, in East Bengal, parties such as the All-Pakistan Awami League (AL) and the United Front (UF) won seats, intensifying political competition. As no single party secured a majority, the PML and UF formed a coalition government. The new Constituent Assembly drafted Pakistan's first constitution in 1956, which declared the country an Islamic Republic.

In 1947, members of Pakistan's Constituent Assembly were elected indirectly by Muslim legislators of the All-India Muslim League (AIML) from the Muslim-majority provinces of British India. However, after Pakistan's independence, this composition changed following provincial elections: West Punjab and the North-West Frontier in 1951, Sindh in 1953, and East Bengal in 1954.^[2] As a result, the legislative assemblies of West Punjab and the North-West Frontier Province demanded that the Constituent Assembly members be replaced with newly elected provincial legislators. The East Bengal Assembly further called for the complete dissolution of the existing Constituent Assembly and fresh elections. On 8 April 1954, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan supported this demand, urging that new members from East Bengal be included in a reconstituted Assembly. This was opposed by the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and its leader and prime minister Mohammad Ali Bogra, who resisted the inclusion of new East Bengal members to maintain his political position.^[2]

Tensions peaked on 24 October 1954, when governor-general Malik Ghulam Muhammad dissolved the Constituent Assembly. This move came after the Assembly passed legislation limiting his powers, making them subject to cabinet decisions and enhancing the prime minister's authority. The new law also revoked the governor-general's authority to dissolve the Assembly.^[2] In response, Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan, president of the dissolved Assembly, challenged the action by filing a case in the federal court.^[2]

The sudden dissolution created uncertainty regarding how a new Constituent Assembly would be elected within a short time. Since Pakistan had no constitution at the time, and the Indian Independence Act did not contain any provision related to elections for the assembly, the government faced legal challenges, making direct elections impossible. Consequently, the governor-general announced that a "Constitutional Convention" would be summoned through indirect elections. Later, the Federal Court dismissed Tamizuddin Khan's case and declared that the governor-general's assent was essential for any legislation to be valid.^[2] On 22 May 1955, the governor-general validated the 1949 Constituent Assembly Act and restructured and increased the number of assembly seats.^[3] On 28 May, a special issue of the Gazette of Pakistan announced that the Constituent Assembly elections would be held on 21 June 1955.^[4]

In Western Pakistan, a rebel faction of the PML led by Feroz Khan Noon contested the elections in West Punjab under the same party name – here referred to as PML (Noon), later taking the name Republican Party – against the 30 officially approved candidates of the PML. Meanwhile, in the North-West Frontier Province, Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan became a rebel candidate against the party, while the All-Pakistan Awami League (AL) also participated in the elections from the province under the leadership of Amin ul-Hasanat.^[a][5] However, the AL candidates later withdrew their nominations.^[6] In the province of Balochistan, Sardar Mohammad Anwar Khan Khetran contested against Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan.^[7]

In East Bengal, a parliamentary committee of the United Front (UF) was formed for the election, headed by A. K. Fazlul Huq. The alliance decided to nominate individuals from outside the legislature.^[8] Additionally, the PML decided to field candidates in the province and called a parliamentary committee meeting in 12 June.^[9] Meanwhile, a dispute arose in the province between provincial leader Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and central leader Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy over the list of candidates from the AL.^[10] A total of 26 candidates were nominated from the UF and 18 from the AL; Mohammad Ali Bogra was the only PML candidate in the province.^[11]

On 21 June 1955, in West Punjab, 12 candidates from the PML, 2 from the PML (Noon), and 1 candidate from the minority community were declared elected.^[12] Based on two rounds of preferential voting by 104 members of the legislature in West Pakistan, 21 out of 26 elected candidates were members of the PML. Among the elected, 1 was from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), 5 from Sindh, 15 from West Punjab, 4 from the North-West Frontier Province, and 1 from Balochistan. The PML won all Muslim seats from the FCT, Sindh, Balochistan, and North-West Frontier Province.^[13] Subsequently, names of 6 more elected members were announced.^{[14][relevant?]} On 22 June, based on the votes of 300 legislative members from East Bengal, 16 candidates from the UF, 12 from the AL, 4 from the Pakistan National Congress (PNC), 3 from the East Bengal Scheduled Castes Federation (SCF), 2 from the United Progressive Party (UPP), 2 independents, and 1 from the PML were declared elected.^[15]

In total, 76 members were elected: 25 from the PML, 16 from the UF, 12 from the AL, 3 from the PML (Noon), 4 from the PNC, 2 from the UPP, 3 from the East Bengal SCF, and 7 Independents.^[16] Members of Constituent Assembly were elected by the members of provincial assemblies, with the exception of the FCT whose only member was elected by the Karachi Municipal Committee.^[17][18]

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Pakistan Muslim League			25
	United Front			16
	All-Pakistan Awami League			12
	Pakistan National Congress			4
	Pakistan Muslim League (Noon)			3
	East Bengal Scheduled Castes Federation			3
	United Progressive Party			2
	Independents			7
Total				72
Registered voters/turnout		404	–
Source: The Azad[16]

At first, UF leader A. K. Fazlul Huq opposed the decision to hold a constitutional convention and demanded the formation of a new Constituent Assembly through a vote by legislative members.^[19] A mission from Karachi failed to convince him to support the convention. AL leader Huseyn Shaheed, then the law minister, expressed concern that UF opposition could invalidate the convention and lead to martial law or an armed revolution in Pakistan.^[20] Following his statement, the UF severed ties with him and suspended Ataur Rahman Khan, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Abul Mansur Ahmad of the AL from the alliance.^[21] Meanwhile, Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, leader of the East Pakistan Awami League, conditionally accepted the convention on the basis that the UF's 21-point demands be implemented and that proposed constitution be written in both Urdu and Bengali.^[22] Later, with Suhrawardy's assurances, the party gave its unconditional consent to join the convention.^[23] On 17 May 1955, A. K. Fazlul Huq announced a province-wide campaign for the elections.^[24] Politician Feroz Khan Noon criticized the voting method, calling it a "Gestapo method", and alleged that although the federal court had ordered secrecy of the ballot, it was absent in this election and voters' choices could be known.^[25] Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy claimed that there was electoral fraud in the Constituent Assembly election.^[26]

In the election, political parties failed to secure a majority to form the central government.^[27] After the election, Mohammad Ali Bogra expressed interest in forming a coalition with the UF.^[28] However, the PML rejected the conditions set by the UF, leading to the failure of the coalition efforts. Meanwhile, the AL initially agreed to form a coalition government on the condition that Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy should be made Prime Minister.^[29] In July 1955, the AL and the UF made a pact^[c] in the hill town of Murree, West Punjab, to support the PML on the conditions that political leaders from East Bengal be included in the central cabinet and that governor's rule be withdrawn from the province.^[27]

The Constituent Assembly session began on 7 July 1955 in Murree.^[30] With the support of the PNC, East Bengal SCF, and the UPP, the UF gained a total of 25 supporters in the Assembly.^[31]

On 7 August 1955, after Chaudhri Muhammad Ali was elected the PML parliamentary leader in the Constituent Assembly, Mohammad Ali Bogra resigned from the post of prime minister.^[32] At that time, an attempt was made to form a tripartite coalition government, and the AL made no immediate objections^[33] but later rejected the proposal. As a result, on 11 August, a coalition cabinet was formed under the leadership of Chaudhri Muhammad Ali, consisting of members from the PML and the UF – the country's first coalition cabinet.^[34] In the assembly, Suhrawardy became the opposition leader.^[26] On 5 March 1956, Iskander Mirza was elected in an indirect election as interim president of Pakistan, previously serving as governor-general of the country.^[35] On 23 March 1956, Pakistan's first constitution was enforced and the British dominion became an Islamic Republic. Mirza's presidency began that same day.^[36] After that, the federal government refrained from holding general elections and, with the aid of the administration, maintained a façade of democracy until 1958. Subsequently, martial law was imposed by Mirza, and both the government and parliament were dissolved.^[1]

The initial formation of the cabinet established on 11 August 1955 is given below:^[37]