PM Shehbaz says summary for NA dissolution to be sent to President Alvi tomorrow

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed Tuesday that he would send the summary to President Dr Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly tomorrow (August 9), Aaj News reported.

The National Assembly’s tenure ends on August 12. The move, however, would prematurely end the term of the current government.

The confirmation comes days after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif publicly announced that the National Assembly would be dissolved on August 9, following which elections should be held within 90 days of the end of the assemblies’ tenure.

Addressing a ceremony today in Islamabad, the premier said: “After completing our [government’s] term tomorrow, I will write and send [the advice] to the president to dissolve the assembly and then an interim government will take over.”

Before the assembly dissolution, the government and the opposition must agree on a name for a caretaker prime minister.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Raja Riaz said today that he had not yet spoken with the premier about the names of the caretaker prime minister.

“I hope to have a meeting tomorrow in which these things will be discussed,” he said, adding that the consultation would happen at “the right time”.

However, Riaz said he had completed the consultation process with his allies, adding that the three names for the interim prime minister were “almost 90 percent finalised”.

As per the Constitution, elections must be held within 60 days if the assembly completes its stipulated time. However, the polls must be held within 90 days if the assembly is dissolved prematurely.

Despite clear Constitutional provisions, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah believes that the upcoming general elections - scheduled for October or November this year - could be postponed due to “constitutional requirements.”

Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Geo Pakistan’ on Tuesday morning, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah claimed that general elections would not be held in 2023.

When asked if 2023 was the elections year, the minister said, “It is an absolutely straightforward answer — no.”

He reiterated that under the Constitution, another general election could not be held on the 2017 census results as they had been accepted “provisionally for a single time”.

Emphasising that it was required by the Constitution to carry out the delimitation process after a census was notified, Sanaullah said, “The caretaker government, while fulfilling this constitutional requirement, will carry out the delimitation process.”