Constituent Assembly of Pakistan

Responsible for writing the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was Pakistan's first parliament and first met on 10 August, 1947.[1] The next day Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948), was elected as the President of the assembly and the new national flag was approved.[1] On 14 August, 1947, Jinnah gave a speech which outlined the important principles of the future government of an independent Pakistan.[2] Jinnah was chosen as the first Governor-General of Pakistan.[3] The assembly's main task was to write a new constitution for Pakistan.

This was a difficult task, however the assembly did agree on the "Objective Resolution" on 12 March, 1949.[4] A special committee of 24 members of the Constituent Assembly worked on a constitution based on the ideas in the Objective Resolution.[1] The Governor-General, Ghulam Muhammad, shut down the assembly on 24 October 1954, before the draft constitution could be presented.[1] The President of the Assembly, took legal action as he believed that shutting down the assembly was illegal. He lost the case in the Federal Court.[1]

A second Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was formed on 28 May 1955.[1] They wrote the new constitution which came into force on 23 March 1956.[1]

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "National Assembly of Pakistan". na.gov.pk. 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  2. Jinnah, Muhammad Ali (2011). "Mr. Jinnah's address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan". columbia.edu. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  3. "Jinnah, Muhammad Ali". Chambers Biographical Dictionary. 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  4. "Annex: The Objectives Resolution". pakistani.org. 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2011.