Provincial Assembly of West Pakistan 1956
May 19, 1956 to Oct 7, 1958
Under the Establishment of West Pakistan Act, 19551, the territories of the Governors’ Provinces of the Punjab, the North-West Frontier and Sind; the Chief Commissioner’s Province of Baluchistan and the capital of the Federation; the states of Bahawalpur and Khairpur, and Baluchistan States Union; and the Tribal Areas of Baluchistan, the Punjab and the North-West Frontier, and the states of Amb, Chitral, Dir and Swat were incorporated into a single Province namely Province of West Pakistan2.
Section 11, read with the Second Schedule of the said Act, envisaged that until a Provincial Legislature was constituted for the West Pakistan, an interim Provincial Legislature would be constituted comprising the Governor of the West Pakistan and a Legislative Assembly composed of 310 members (10 general seats, 290 seats for Muslims and 10 seats reserved for women).
It was also provided in the said Act that this interim Legislature, unless dissolved earlier, would stand dissolved on expiration of eighteen months from the date of commencement of the said Act. The election to the interim Legislature was to be held on a day fixed by the Governor General. It was also provided that the first meeting of the interim Legislature would be held within sixty days of completion of election.
The election of the interim Legislature was held on January 19, 19561 and the results of the election were notified on January 29, 19562. However, before this interim Assembly could hold its first sitting, the first Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan was enacted on February 29, 1956 and came into force with effect from March 23, 1956. Article 76 of this Constitution contained provision for the constitution of a Provincial Legislature for West Pakistan comprising 300 members.
In order to give constitutional cover to the prevailing political scenario, the 1956 Constitution contained temporary and transitional provisions in Part XIII. According to Article 225 of the 1956 Constitution, until a Provincial Assembly for the Province of West Pakistan had been duly constituted, the already elected interim Assembly had to exercise the powers and perform the duties of Provincial Assembly of West Pakistan. Accordingly, the interim Assembly was declared as West Pakistan Legislative Assembly, with effect from March 23, 1956, the date on which the Constitution came into force.
It held its first sitting on May 19, 1956 and its last session was held from August 25 to August 28, 1958. This Assembly had held 80 sittings over 6 sessions when under the proclamation of Martial Law on October 7, 1958, it was dissolved and the 1956 Constitution was abrogated. Thus it had a life of 2 years 4 months and 19 days.
It may be mentioned that no elections under the 1956 Constitution could be held. It is also worth-mentioning that Chaudhri Fazl-e-Elahi was elected as Speaker of this Assembly through a casting vote of the Presiding Officer, Mirza Mumtaz Hassan Qizalbash, a member of the Assembly1.
