ISLAMABAD: August 8,2023: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is likely to send an advice to the President to dissolve the National Assembly today.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that he will send the summary to president Arif Alvu for the dissolution of the National Assembly on August 9,2023.
“After completing our [coalition govt’s] tenure, I will write to the president of Pakistan to dissolve the assembly,” the premier said while addressing a ceremony in Islamabad He said the caretaker setup will take the reins of the government.
The current National Assembly’s tenure will end on August 12 and if it completes its stipulated time then elections are supposed to take place within 60 days. However, the Constitution states that the polls must be held within 90 days if the assembly is dissolved before the completion of its tenure.
But, after the Council of Common Interests (CCI) in its meeting last week approved the census 2023, the general elections scheduled for November are likely to be delayed till next year as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is now required to carry out fresh delimitation of constituencies.
An official statement issued following the CCI meeting said the new census results were approved by all members including four chief ministers with consensus.
Earlier today, Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Raja Riaz said that he would call on PM Shehbaz tomorrow (Wednesday) to hold a consultation on the name of the caretaker prime minister.
Under the Constitution, if the prime minister and the leader of the opposition failed to agree on any name, the matter will be referred to a parliamentary committee.
While addressing the ceremony in honor of martyrs’ families and Ghaziyan at GHQ. That tomorrow the term of our government will be completed and we will hand over the power to the caretaker government fulfilling the constitutional requirements, but before leaving, a coherent and comprehensive system has come into existence for the development and prosperity of Pakistan. For this, all the machinery of the government, provinces and other institutions have clarified the comprehensive program which has been implemented and the last meeting was held yesterday in which all the matters were settled.In the same address, the premier while highlighting economic challenges the country was facing said the next government, which will come into power after elections, should “work day and night to break the begging bowl and make Pakistan great”.
Recalling the previous tenure of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, PM Shehbaz said then-prime minister and incumbent party supremo Nawaz Sharif rid the country of power outages.
“If Nawaz Sharif gets a chance [to rule the country again], we will bring an agricultural revolution, end poverty and get rid of debt,” the PM added.
The premier said the country remained gripped by the political chaos and facing unprecedented challenges.
He said the country would have defaulted without the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme but lamented that the “government’s hands were tied” by the global lender as it cannot give subsidies.
“The conditions of the IMF are very tough..there is no doubt about it,” the PM said while referring to the recent hike in electricity tariffs on the global lender’s demand.
The President can dissolve the National Assembly one day after receiving the Prime Minister’s advice. In case the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition do not agree on a name, the matter will be referred to a parliamentary committee. If the parliamentary committee also does not reach any conclusion, the matter will be left to the Election Commission.
The prime minister and the leader of the opposition have not been able to agree on any name for the interim prime minister so far, but Hafeez Sheikh is considered to be the favorite person in many circles for the caretaker prime minister. The Interior Minister said that there is a discussion on Hafeez Sheikh or other names for the Caretaker Prime Minister, but no name has been locked yet, the name of the Caretaker Prime Minister may be finalized by this evening or tomorrow. Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Raja Riaz has said that 3 names have been finalized in consultation with colleagues. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced the dissolution of the assembly on August 9 and now the consultation process for the supervisory setup is going on among the government coalition parties.
The coalition parties have proposed their own names for the caretaker prime minister, but constitutionally the prime minister and the opposition leader will consult for the final names. In this regard, Raja Riaz said that I have not met the prime minister yet.
