President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly (NA) at midnight on Wednesday at outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s advice, marking an end to the current government’s tenure.
The notification for the dissolution of the assembly was issued by the Aiwan-i-Sadr, which said the NA was dissolved under Article 58 of the Constitution.
According to Article 58 of the Constitution, if the president fails to dissolve the assembly within 48 hours after the PM has recommended so, the assembly automatically stands dissolved.
Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz and Leader of the Opposition in NA now have three days as per the Constitution to finalise a name for the caretaker prime minister.
The government had previously announced that assemblies would be dissolved on August 9 (today), three days ahead of its mandated period, following which elections are to be held within 90 days.
In his farewell address at the NA today, PM Shehbaz said: “Tonight, with the permission of the House, I will send the advice for the dissolution of the National Assembly to the president.”
Later, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Murtaza Javed Abbasi said in a statement that “the elected government has completed its five-year term”, and his ministry had forwarded the summary for the dissolution of the assembly to the PM under Article 58 of the Constitution.
The constitution of an interim government under Article 224 of the Constitution has been requested in the summary, the statement said, adding that a notification by the parliamentary affairs ministry would be issued after the approval of the summary and formation of the caretaker government.
Earlier today, the prime minister also chaired the final meeting of the federal cabinet in Islamabad, according to Radio Pakistan.
The government had announced that assemblies would be dissolved on August 9 (today), three days ahead of its mandated period, following which elections are to be held within 90 days.
During the meeting, PM Shehbaz took his coalition partners in confidence regarding the appointment of the caretaker government. He also thanked all the cabinet members for their contribution to Pakistan’s growth during the outgoing government’s 16-month tenure.
Opposition finalises three names
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition Raja Riaz told reporters a day earlier that he hoped his meeting with the PM would take place today where these matters would be discussed. He was of the view that consultations would take place at “the right time”.
According to the opposition leader, he had completed the consultation process with his allies and three names for the interim prime minister were almost finalised.
Later, Riaz told Aaj News that the names for the caretaker PM were finalised after he held three meetings with lawmakers from the opposition. “They do not include any politicians, but an economist has been shortlisted,” he revealed.
The opposition leader said he could even consider a politician for the interim PM slot if suggested by the government. Some political observers believed that Raja Riaz is a “friendly opposition leader” so he will not oppose the name chosen by PM Shehbaz for the slot of caretaker prime minister.
Regarding potential delays in elections, Riaz said polls should ideally be held within three months but the approval of the latest census has complicated the matters. “I think the election will be delayed by six months,” he said.
It may be noted that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has already said that general elections could be delayed due to the delimitations of constituencies after the notification of the 2023 census. He expected polls could be delayed till March next year.Pakistan’s parliament was dissolved to prepare for a national election without former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has been jailed and barred from politics for five years.
Khan’s successor, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, wrote to President Arif Alvi on Wednesday, calling for the dissolution of the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament.
The dissolution marks the end of a chaotic tenure which began five years ago with Khan at the helm.
Sharif, who assumed power in April 2022 after Khan lost a no-confidence vote in parliament, on Tuesday said he had asked President Alvi to dissolve the assembly three days before the schedule.
“Tomorrow [Wednesday], my government completes its term and after meeting constitutional norms, we will hand over the reins to the interim set-up,” he said during an event at the headquarters of the country’s powerful army.
The dissolution allows the interim government, which is still to be set up, to oversee the next general elections within 90 days, that is by November
According to Pakistan’s constitution, elections should be held within 60 days if a legislative assembly is dissolved on the scheduled day, and within 90 days if it is done earlier than that.
However, the likelihood of elections being held by November is slim.
Last week, the government approved the results of a digital census in Pakistan, which put the country’s population at 241 million, up from 207 million according to the census conducted in 2017.
Pakistani law mandates that elections can take place only according to constituency delimitations which will be drawn based on the latest census figures.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) says it requires at least four months to redraw the constituencies, making it uncertain if the polls will be held on time
Speaking to a private news channel on Tuesday, Rana Sanaullah, the interior minister, also said there was no chance of holding elections in 2023
“Very straightforward answer: no,” Sanaullah said when he was asked about the chances of polls this year
Meanwhile, the outgoing government is yet to finalise the interim cabinet and the caretaker prime minister.
Sharif is scheduled to meet his cabinet members as well as opposition leader Raja Riaz to finalise the name of the caretaker leader later on Wednesday.
Among the top contenders is Hafeez Shaikh, a two-time finance minister who last served under Khan
Sanaullah, in another interview to a news channel earlier this week, said a retired Supreme Court judge’s name is also in the running.
“However, the name of the interim prime minister will be decided in the next two days,” he said on Monday.
Sharif’s 15-month tenure was marked by political chaos, a precarious economy, and a worsening security situation.
Catastrophic floods last year killed nearly 1,800 people and caused a loss of more than $30bn. Pakistan has still not recovered from the calamity.
Meanwhile, the country’s economy was on the brink of default before it managed a last-minute $3bn bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
Sharif’s coalition rule also saw a severe crackdown on Khan and his Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party following their demands to hold immediate elections and scathing attacks on the powerful military.
On Sunday, Khan was sentenced to three years in prison over false declaration of assets in his election papers.Two days later, the election body barred him from politics for five years.