Pak President dissolves National Assembly 3 days before completion of its tenure

Islamabad: Pakistan’s National Assembly was dissolved by President Arif Alvi on Wednesday, shortly after a summary signed by Prime Shehbaz Sharif advising the dissolution of the Lower House of Parliament was sent to the Presidency.

"The Prime Minister's advice in para 6 of the summary is approved," President Alvi said.

"The President dissolved the National Assembly on the advice of the Prime Minister under Article 58-1 of the Constitution," a statement issued by his office read.

The dissolution of the National Assembly, which came just three days before the completion of its five-year tenure, has brought an end to the Sharif-led coalition government.

According to the Pakistani constitution, if the Assembly is terminated before its stipulated time, the general elections would be held within 90 days and if it completes its mandated period then the election will take place within 60 days.

The polls are expected to be delayed for a couple of months as new census results have been approved, which makes it a constitutional obligation to carry out delimitation before elections.

On his last day in power, Sharif on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the federal cabinet, made a farewell address in Parliament, and chaired two separate meetings on overseas Pakistanis and the setting up of an ‘Olympic village’ in Islamabad.

Addressing the federal cabinet, he confirmed it was his government’s last day in power. “Tonight, with the permission of the House, I will send the advice for the dissolution of the National Assembly to the president,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the coalition government sacrificed its political capital for the sake of the country as they had a “gigantic task to save the motherland from looming default”.

After the cabinet meeting, he went to the Parliament House to address the National Assembly.

In his farewell speech in the Assembly, Sharif said he would start consultations on Thursday to decide about a caretaker Prime Minister, who will choose his cabinet for three months or until the formation of the next elected government.

The parliamentary committee will have to finalise the name of the caretaker prime minister within three days or if it too failed to reach a consensus on the name, then the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will pick the caretaker prime minister within two days from the names proposed by the opposition and the government.

The outgoing assembly was the 15th National Assembly which began its five-year journey on August 13, 2018, with the election of a speaker and deputy speaker.

With inputs from agencies