Salient Features of the Constitution of 1956
I - Introduction
During Chaudhary Muhammad Ali''s tenure, the Constituent Assembly adopted the constitution of 1956. His efforts led to the first constitution that was enforced in the country on March 23, 1956. Pakistan's status as a dominion ended and the country was declared an Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Thereupon the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan became the interim National Assembly and Governor General Iskander Mirza was sworn in as the first President of Pakistan.
II - Salient Features:
A - Islamic Provisions:
One of the main features of the Constitution was its Islamic character. The Islamic provisions were contained in the directive principles of the state policy. Along with other Islamic provisions in the Constitution, the president, who was required to be a Muslim of at least 40 years of age, was to set up an organization for Islamic research with the aim of establishing a true Islamic society. The Objectives Resolution was, however, only made the preamble of the Constitution and not included in its main text.
According to the directive principles, steps were to be taken to enable the Muslims of Pakistan individually and collectively to order their lives in accordance with principles in the Qur'an and Sunnah. No law shall be enacted which is repugnant to the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Qur'an and Sunnah and that existing laws shall be brought into conformity with such injunctions. Whether a law was repugnant to Islam or not, would be decided by the National Assembly.
B - Written and Flexible Constitution:
The Constitution of 1956 consisted of 234 articles, which were divided into 13 parts and 6 schedules. The Constitution was not too rigid, as it could be amended in accordance with the changing requirements. National Assembly with the support of 2/3 rd Majority of the members could amend it.
C - Federal form of Government:
Under the constitution there existed division of powers between the central and provincial government in the form of three lists. One was Central List – included the affairs on which central government was authorized to legislate. Second List dealt with provincial government’s jurisdiction. While the Third List one included all concurrent affairs on which both centre and provinces could legislate but in case of clash between centre and provinces the central law was to remain operative. All the residuary powers were entrusted to the provinces.
D - Ascendancy of President:
The Constitution vested the executive authority of the President in the Federation. The President had the discretionary powers to make the appointment of the Chairman and members of the Election Commission, Delimitation Commission and Public Service Commission. He also had the power to appoint the Prime Minister from amongst the members of the National Assembly. However, his appointee had to take a vote of confidence from the Assembly within two months of his appointment. The President also had the power to remove the Prime Minister if he felt that the Prime Minister had lost the confidence of the majority of the National Assembly members.
E - Parliamentary form of Government with Unicameral Legislature:
The Constitution of 1956 provided for parliamentary form of government with a unicameral legislature. The only house of parliament, the National Assembly, was to consist of 300 members. The Constitution recognized the concept of One Unit, and the seats were divided equally between the two wings of the country. Thus the principle of parity was introduced. For the first ten years, five additional seats were reserved for women for each wing. National Assembly was to meet at least twice a year with at least one session at Dhaka. The Constitution offered direct elections under adult franchise. Every citizen of Pakistan with minimum age of 21 was allowed to vote in the elections.
F - Directive Principles of State Policy:
These were laid down in Part 3 of the Constitution. Some of these principles dealt with Islamic teachings. It was also reaffirmed that Pakistan would always pay due regard to the UN and perform its role to maintain international peace and security. Pakistan would foster fraternal relations with other nations. Eradication of poverty, protection of interests of wage-earners, elimination of illiteracy, social and economic justice, protection of the rights of minorities etc, were also included.
G - Fundamental Rights:
Fundamental Rights were made the part of the Constitution and were to be enforced by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. All such laws or administrative policies as violated fundamental rights could be challenged in the court of law. Some important of these were, right to personal security, freedom of thought, and action, freedom of speech and expression, right to privacy and family life etc.
H - Official Language:
Urdu and Bengali were both accepted as state languages, while English was to remain the official language for the first 25 years. After ten years' passage of the Constitution, the President was to appoint a commission with the task to make recommendation for the replacement of English as the official language.
I - Independence of Judiciary:
The Constitution ensured necessary safeguards to secure independence of judiciary. The judges of the superior courts were to be appointed by the head of the State and were ensured full security of service. Judges could not be removed prior to their retirement except through impeachment nor their salaries diminished.
III – Conclusion:
The Constitution of 1956 proved to be short-lived one and remain enforced for a period of two years only. The first general elections to be held under it were repeatedly adjourned from one date to another till the Constitution was abrogated on 7th October, 1958 and Martial was proclaimed. A Martial Law Government headed by General Ayub Khan came to power. Leadership crisis, lack of political training, undemocratic norms inside political parties, economic instability, were some of the reason for the failure of the first Constitution of Pakistan.