Who was the first leader of opposition in the first National Assembly constituted under the 1962 Constitution of Pakistan? (CSS 2024 Pakistan Affairs Paper)

Hussain Shaheed
Sardar Bahadur Khan
Syed Fakhar Imam
Ghulam Haider Wain

On 27th October 1958, General Muhammad Ayub Khan took-over as a second President of Pakistan. One of the first major steps taken by General Ayub Khan was the appointment of a Constitution Commission on 17th February 1960. The objective of this commission was to submit proposals, as to how best democracy can be strengthened and molded according to the country’s socio-political environment and Islamic principles of justice. The Commission submitted its report to the government on 29th April 1961. On the basis of this report a new Constitution was framed and given to the nation on 1st March 1962.

General elections under the new Constitution were held on 28th March 1962 and elections to the special seats reserved for women were held on 29th May 1962. The first session of the third National Assembly was held on 8th June 1962 at Ayub Hall, Rawalpindi.
The Constitution of 1962 envisaged a Federal State with Presidential form of government, with National Assembly at the centre and the Provincial Assemblies in the Provinces. The Legislatures, both at centre and in provinces were unicameral. The Federal system had been curtailed by allowing the Provincial Governors to be appointed directly by the President. All executive authority of the Republic of Pakistan, under the Constitution, vested in the office of the President. President appointed his Cabinet members who were directly responsible to him.
The electoral system was made indirect, and the `Basic Democrats’, for both wings were declared Electoral College for the purpose of electing the Assemblies and the President. Basic democrats were 80,000 in number (40,000 from each East & West Pakistan). The total membership of the National Assembly was 156, one half of whom were to be elected from East Pakistan and other half from West Pakistan, also three seats were reserved for women from each province. The term of this Assembly was three years. The norm was established that if the President was from West Pakistan, the Speaker was to be from East Pakistan and vice versa. One of the major achievements of this Assembly was the passage of Political Parities Act, 1962.
On 25th March 1969 the second Martial law was imposed and General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan took-over as the President of Pakistan and Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA). He abrogated the Constitution of 1962-what an irony because the self -tailored constitution of one military ruler was not even acceptable to another military ruler. On 28 March, 1970 through a media broadcast he announced his own Legal Framework Order (LFO) as a mandatory prescription for the yet to be elected first-ever Assembly on the basis of adult franchise in Pakistan.