Salient Features of 1956 Constitution of Pakistan

The 1956 constitution of Pakistan was enforced in the country from 23 March 1956 to 7 October 1958. Some of the salient features of 1956 constitution of Pakistan are followed by the Govt of India Act 1935. It was the first constitution of Pakistan framed by the constituent assembly.

Salient Features of 1956 Constitution of Pakistan

The salient features of 1956 constitution of Pakistan or main points of 1956 constitution are explained as under.

Written Constitution

The 1956 Constitution of Pakistan was written and lengthy constitution because of its Islamic Character. It consists of 234 articles, 6 schedules, and 13 parts.

Codified Constitution

The 1956 constitution is partially rigid although it followed the Govt of India Act 1935. The procedure for amendment in the constitution was easy.

Unicameral Legislature

One of the unique and salient features of 1956 constitution of Pakistan is the unicameral legislature system. The Parliament consisted of the President and the National Assembly. The number of members of the National Assembly was 300. The term for the National Assembly was 10 years.

Parliamentary Form of Government

The constitution of 1956 introduced a parliamentary form of Government for the first time in the country. In this parliamentary form of government, the Prime Minister was the head of the government, and the President was the head of the state.

Direct Elections

Another salient features of 1956 constitution is the method of elections. The constituent Assembly introduced the direct method of election for the members of the National Assembly. The Constitution of 1973 provided the same.

Executive Powers

In the constitution of Pakistan 1956, the Prime Minister had most of the executive powers. The President also had certain powers e.g. dissolution of the National Assembly under article 58(2)B of the constitution of Pakistan 1956.

Federal System

Following the Govt of India Act 1935, turning the distribution of legislative powers, the constitution of Pakistan 1956 contains these three lists of powers in matters
⦁ Federal List (make laws concerning 30 items)
⦁ Provincial List (94 matters)
⦁ Concurrent List (19 matters)

Supremacy of Islamic Provisions

The constitution of 1956 was pure Islamic, many Islamic provisions were added, and it declared the country as the ‘Islamic Republic’. Equality, tolerance, principles of freedom, and social justice were added according to the Quran and Sunnah.

Fundamental Rights

Initially, there were no fundamental rights added to the 1956 constitution of Pakistan for the citizens of Pakistan. But, by an amendment, a bill of rights was added.

Rights of Minorities

Another salient features of 1956 constitution of Pakistan was that it provided equal rights to all the citizens of Pakistan. Rights of minorities were included in 1956 constitution features.

Single Citizenship

According to 1956 constitution of Pakistan, all the citizens of Pakistan would have single citizenship as Pakistan consists of provinces.

Emergency Provisions

Another salient features of constitution of 1956 was that it provided emergency provisions. The President had the power to declare an emergency in the country. The fundamental rights will be suspended in case of emergency.

Language

The 1956 constitution of Pakistan declared Urdu and Bengali as the national language of the country.

Conclusion

These were constitution of 1956 salient features, it was the first constitution of Pakistan made by a constituent assembly after nine years, but it also had some causes of failure. Some unique and salient features of the 1956 constitution of Pakistan include a parliamentary form of government, bicameral legislature, and Supremacy of Islamic provisions.

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