Pakistan became independent of the United Kingdom in 1947, but remained a British Dominion, like Canada and Australia, until 1956.
Under Section 8 of the Indian Independence Act, 1947, the Government of India Act 1935 - with certain adaptations - served as the working constitution of Pakistan; still, the need of a full independence and a constitution to be framed by the elected representatives of the people was all the more necessary for the free citizens of a sovereign state.
I would like to remind the house that the Father of the Nation, Quaid-i-Azam, gave expression of his feelings on this matter on many occasions, and his views were endorsed by the nation in unmistakable terms, Pakistan was founded because the Muslims of this sub-continent wanted to build up their lives in accordance with the teachings and traditions of Islam, because they wanted to demonstrate to the world that Islam provides a panacea to the many diseases which have crept into the life of humanity today.
Hindu members of the Constitutional Assembly argued that the Objectives Resolution differed with Muhammad Ali Jinnah's (Quaid-e-Azam) view in all the basic points.
They also argued that objective resolution provided the minorities with equal rights and that they had no compulsion, whatsoever, in adopting or converting into Islam.
The Constituent Assembly adopted it on 29 February 1956, and it was enforced on 23 March 1956, proclaiming Pakistan to be an Islamic republic.
The Constitution of 1956 provided for the parliamentary form of government, where real executive authority was vested in a cabinet, collectively responsible to the legislature.
However, three weeks later General Ayub—who had been openly questioning the authority of the government prior to the imposition of martial law—deposed Iskandar Mirza on 27 October 1958 and assumed the presidency, which practically formalized the militarization of the political system in Pakistan.