Political
Parties, 1956
The following survey appeared in The British
Commonwealth 1956 published by Europa Publications Limited,
London (1956).
See the Synopsis of Subjects on the left for other
items on Pakistan from this source.
Political Parties
In the June, 1955 elections to the Constituent Assembly,
no single political party secured an absolute majority and in August,
1955 the Muslim League formed a coalition Government with the support
of the United Front. The result of the elections was as follows:
Political Party |
Seats |
Muslim League
|
25
|
United Front
|
16
|
Awami Muslim League
|
13
|
Independents (including 2 non-Muslims)
|
4
|
Pakistan National Congress
|
4
|
Scheduled Castes Federation
|
3
|
Noon Group
|
3
|
United Progressive Parliamentary Party
|
2
|
Azad Pakistan Party
|
1
|
Communist Party
|
1
|
Muslim League:
Originally founded in 1906 as the All-India Muslim
League, it became the Muslim League in 1947 on the formation of
Pakistan; as the All-India Muslim League it tried at first to work
out a compromise with the Congress Party, whereby the rights of
Muslim minorities would be safeguarded in an independent India,
but these attempts were unsuccessful; in 1930 the idea of a separate
Muslim state was first put forward by Dr. Mohammed Iqbal, and was
adopted as a political goal by the League in 1940. The goal was
achieved on August 14th, 1947 under the leadership of Quaid-i-Azam
Mahomed Ali Jinnah, founder and first president of the Muslim League.
The objects of the Muslim League include the safeguarding of the
integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan and of the religious, cultural,
social, economic and political interests of Muslims in Pakistan,
and the promotion of friendly relations between Muslims and other
communities. President and Leader Miss Fatima Jinnah (succeeded
Chaudhri Mohamad Ali, the Prime Minister, November, 1955).
United Front:
From 1954 in East Pakistan, where a group of parties
united to form a common front in opposition to the Muslim League
in the provincial elections of March, 1954, which the United Front
won. The chief parties constituting the front were:
Awami Muslim League (see below), which seceded in
August, 1955;
Kraishak Sramik (Peasants and Workers Party) led
by A. K. Fazlul Huq the moving spirit behind the United Front);
Nizam-i-Islam Party, led by Maulana Athar Ali;
Khalafat-i-Rabbani Party, which aims at the establishment
of an Islamic constitution and an alliance between all Islamic
countries; Leader Abul Hashim;
Ganatantri Dal, which has been charged with Communist
sympathies, led by Mahmud Ali (See footnote).
The policy of the United Front includes the establishment
of Bengali as a state language, the abolition of the zamindari system
of landholding, the decentralization of government and the release
of political prisoners; the Front holds 121 seats in the East Pakistan
and 16 seats in the Constituent Assembly; Leader A. K. Fazlul Huq.
Awami Muslim League:
From 1949 in East Pakistan by Maulana A. H. Bhashini
[sic. Bhashani); urges that Bengali should be one of the state languages
and that East Pakistan should have full internal autonomy; the party
joined the United Front in 1954 but seceded in 1955 (though some
dissident Awami Leaguers continued to support the Front under A.
Salam Khan) and went into opposition in both the provincial and
central Assemblies. Leaders Maulana Abdul Hamid Bhashani and H.
S. Suhrawardy; Gen. Sec. Majibur [sic. Mujibur] Rahman.
Pakistan National Congress: (Hindu)
[It] was originally part of the main India party;
most of its influential leaders in Pakistan migrated to India following
partition; holds 4 of the 9 non-Muslim seats (among East Pakistan
members) in the Constituent Assembly. Hindu Congress members have
given some support to the United Front in the Province and in the
Centre. Leader Basant Kumar Das.
Footnote: The arrest of Mahmud Ali under the
Public Safety Act was reported in November 1955.
Source: The British Commonwealth 1956
With a Foreword by the Earl of Swinton P.C., G.B.E., C.H., M.C.
Europa Publications Limited, London (1956)
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