Malik Ghulam Muhammad - Governor-General

Governor-General

One of Ghulam Muhammad's major first duties was to represent Pakistan as Governor General at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II held in London in 1953. Ghulam Muhammad was present in Westminster Abbey alongside the other major Dominion Governors-General from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Ceylon.

In 1954, the Assembly of Pakistan tried to change the constitution to establish checks on the Governor-General's powers. In response, Ghulam Muhammad dismissed the Assembly, an action that was challenged in the Supreme Court. Ghulam Muhammad emerged victorious when the Court upheld the dismissal in a split decision, despite dissenting opinion written by Justice (later Chief Justice) A. R. Cornelius and protests from the members of the Assembly. This action is now seen as the beginning of “viceregal” politics in Pakistan, in which the military and civil bureaucracy, not elected officials, govern the country and maintain substantial influence over society and the provinces.