The tenure of the current government in Pakistan has come to an end as President Arif Alvi signed off on the dissolution of the National Assembly (NA). The dissolution was recommended by outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and was approved by President Alvi at midnight on Wednesday.
The notification for the dissolution of the assembly was issued by the Aiwan-i-Sadr, stating that it was done under Article 58 of the Constitution. According to Article 58, if the president fails to dissolve the assembly within 48 hours after the prime minister’s recommendation, the assembly automatically stands dissolved.
As per the Constitution, Prime Minister Shehbaz and the Leader of the Opposition in NA now have three days to finalize a name for the caretaker prime minister. If they fail to agree on a name, the matter will be referred to a committee formed by the NA speaker, which will then finalize a name for the interim PM within three days. If the committee is unable to make a decision within the stipulated period, the names of the nominees will be forwarded to the Election Commission of Pakistan, which will have two days to make the final decision.
The NA dissolution comes around a week after the government announced that assemblies would be dissolved on August 9, three days ahead of the mandated period. Elections are to be held within 90 days after the dissolution.
During his farewell addresses in the NA, Prime Minister Shehbaz stated that he would send the advice for the dissolution of the National Assembly to the president with the permission of the House. The elected government has completed its five-year term, according to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Murtaza Javed Abbasi. The constitution of an interim government under Article 224 of the Constitution has been requested, and a notification by the parliamentary affairs ministry will be issued after the approval of the summary and formation of the caretaker government.
Prime Minister Shehbaz also chaired the final meeting of the federal cabinet in Islamabad, where he took his coalition partners into confidence regarding the appointment of the caretaker government. He thanked all the cabinet members for their contribution to Pakistan’s growth during the outgoing government’s 16-month tenure.
Leader of the Opposition Raja Riaz announced that he had completed the consultation process with his allies and three names for the interim prime minister were almost finalized. The names do not include any politicians but an economist has been shortlisted. Riaz also mentioned that the election might be delayed by six months due to the approval of the latest census, which has complicated matters.
It is important to note that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has already stated that the general elections could be delayed due to the delimitations of constituencies after the notification of the 2023 census. He expected the polls to be delayed until March next year.