Governor-General personally and was not based on principle, as it was passed only in respect of the Governor-General and not the Governors and at a lime when the draft of the new Constitution was ready. However, the manner in which the amendment was moved and effected clearly shows that those who sponsored it were not sure of the attitude of the rest of their own party.
16. As regards the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, it was, no doubt, held in a majority decision of the Federal Court that on the facts stated in the reference, made to it by the Governor-General, his action was legal and justified, but that conclusion was based on the assumption that the facts alleged in the reference were correct. However, this decision was given only in April, 1955. The immediate reaction to the dissolution was one of surprise and yet there seems to have been no organized opposition by the parties. On the other hand, some of the members of the Muslim League passed resolutions in Sind and the Punjab approving of the action of the Governor-General which was welcomed by the parties other than the Muslim League.
17. After the new Constituent Assembly was elected in July, 1955, there was a change in the Head of the State and in respect of the new Governor-General, who with the late Constitution coming into force became the first President of the Republic, it was stated before us that he also unduly interfered with the political situation in the country. The criticism leveled against him was that he forced, on the Muslim League party, which was the majority party at the time of the integration of the provinces of West Pakistan into One Unit, a leader who was not prepared to join that party. He was notified by the Central Government to be the Chief Minister of the integrated province before the One Unit Assembly was constituted-a step entirely opposed to the parliamentary practice. In the ordinary course, the party should have elected him as its leader after the Assembly came into existence. It appears that some of the members of the Muslim League party had promised to support the said leader, but, when the Assembly was formed, this support was not forthcoming from the party as a whole. The result was that that leader formed the Republican Party, which consisted mostly of those members of the Muslim League party who left it not on any principle but on personal grounds.
18. As regards the interference by the Central Government, reference may be made to the attitude of the Muslim League party which was in the majority in the Constituent Assembly at the time the Muslim League in East Pakistan suffered a crushing defeat in the election of 1954. The imposition of the Governor's rule, soon after the United Front ministry took office, was an indication of the reluctance on the part of the majority party at the Centre to allow any other party to take office in the province of East Pakistan. Further reference to this interference will be made presently. There were also instances of interference by the Centre in West Pakistan, both before the integration into One Unit and after it, but it does not appear to us necessary to deal with those incidents. Suffice it to point out that such interference shows that the members of the party in power at the Centre were concerned more with maintaining their own position than with working the Constitution.
