1962 East Pakistan Provincial Assembly election

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Provincial Assembly elections were held in East Pakistan in May 1962 as part of the wider provincial elections.[1]

Background[edit]

The East Pakistan Provincial Assembly had been suspended in 1958 after President Iskandar Ali Mirza introduced martial law. A new constitution was adopted in 1962, which provided for an indirectly elected 155-seat Provincial Assembly, of which 150 seats were elected from single-member constituencies by electoral colleges under the "basic democracy" system, and five seats were reserved for women, who were elected by the 150 elected members divided into five constituencies.[2] In East Pakistan there were 40,000 members of the electoral college.[3] Elections were to be held on a non-partisan basis.[3]

Aftermath[edit]

Elections to the National Assembly were held at the same time and the newly elected National Assembly convened for its first meeting on 8 June. Martial law was ended,[2] and political parties were allowed to reform after the passing of the Political Parties Bill on 17 July.[1] In East Pakistan this included the Awami League of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the National Awami Party of Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani.[3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Tahir Kamran. "Electoral Politics in Pakistan (1955-1969)" (PDF). p. 91.
  2. ^ a b The Commonwealth Relations Office Year Book, Volume 13. 1964. pp. 289–291.
  3. ^ a b c Syedur Rahman (2010). Historical Dictionary of Bangladesh. Scarecrow Press. p. liv. ISBN 978-0-8108-7453-4.