National Assembly stands dissolved as President Alvi approves summary

President Dr Arif Alvi, at the stroke of midnight, assented to the premature dissolution of the National Assembly shortly after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif forwarded the summary.

“The president dissolved the National Assembly on the advice of the prime minister under Article 58-1 of the Constitution,” read an official statement issued by the President’s Office Twitter late Wednesday.

The development comes soon after PM Shehbaz Sharif forwarded the summary for the dissolution of the NA to the president, paving the way for a premature end to his government’s tenure.

He had received the summary from the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.

Earlier, PM Shehbaz had made it public that he would send the dissolution summary to President Alvi on Wednesday, August 9.

“After completion of our term, we will, Wednesday, write to the president of Pakistan that the assembly should be dissolved, and then a caretaker government will come,” he had said on Tuesday while addressing the inauguration ceremony of the tube-well solar energy transfer project.

PM Shehbaz is also expected to hold a meeting with the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Raja Riaz, tomorrow.

On Tuesday, Riaz said that he had not yet spoken with the premier about the names of the caretaker prime minister.

Govt decides to dissolve NA on 9th

“I hope to have a meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) 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”.

Regarding potential delays in elections, Riaz said elections should ideally be held within three months, but the latest census’s approval has complicated the matters.

He was of the view that the election might be delayed by six months.

According to Article 224 of the Constitution, “A general election to the National Assembly or a provincial assembly shall be held within a period of 60 days immediately following the day on which the term of the assembly is due to expire unless the Assembly has been sooner dissolved”.

In case of early dissolution, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is bound to hold the general elections within 90 days after the dissolution, according to Article 224(2).