General elections were held in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

on 21 March 1965. The

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

was elected indirectly by the basic democracy

electoral college An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

system, with electoral college members elected in October and November 1964.

Background

The 1962 constitution provided for an indirectly elected 156-seat National Assembly, of which 150 seats were elected from single-member constituencies by electoral colleges and six seats reserved for women, who were elected by the 150 general members. The seats were divided equally between

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and

West Pakistan West Pakistan was the western province of Pakistan between One Unit, 1955 and Legal Framework Order, 1970, 1970, covering the territory of present-day Pakistan. Its land borders were with Afghanistan, India and Iran, with a maritime border wit ...

. There were 80,000 members of the electoral college ("basic democrats"), 40,000 in each wing. The electoral college members were elected between 31 October and 9 November 1964 in West Pakistan and from 10 to 19 November in East Pakistan. A total of 264,254 candidates submitted nomination papers, of which 192,416 were successfully registered after disqualifications, withdrawals and retirements. 11,652 were elected unopposed. The first task of the basic democrats was to elect the president, which occurred on 2 January 1965.

Results

Several opposition parties, including the

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

, the

Council Muslim League The Council Muslim League was a faction of the Pakistan Muslim League that divided from the Convention Muslim League that was supportive of the military regime of the President of Pakistan Gen. Ayub Khan. Sardar Muhammad Zafarullah, Mian Mu ...

Jamaat-e-Islami Jamaat-e-Islami is an Islamist fundamentalist movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamist author and theorist Syed Abul Ala Maududi, who was inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood. It is considered one of the most influential Isla ...

, the

National Awami Party The National Awami Party (NAP) was the major left-wing political party in East and West Pakistan. It was founded in 1957 in Dhaka, erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), by Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Yar Mohammad Khan, through th ...

and its northwestern Wali faction, as well as the Nizam-e-Islam Party, formed a coalition to contest the elections as the Combined Opposition Parties. A total of 672 candidates submitted nomination papers for the National Assembly elections, of which 437 were approved. 18 candidates were elected unopposed from constituencies with 10,651 basic democrats. The

Convention Muslim League The Convention Muslim League (CML) also called Pakistan Muslim League - Convention was a faction of the Pakistan Muslim League that split-off in 1962, in support of the military regime of the President of Pakistan, General Ayub Khan. The opposi ...

won 120 seats and the opposition Combined Opposition Party and National Democratic Front 16. 25 incumbent MPs lost their seats, including one minister.

References

{{Pakistani elections

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

General elections in Pakistan Election and referendum articles with incomplete results Indirect elections in Pakistan

Background

Results

See also

References