ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday dissolved National Assembly – three days before the end of its term – on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif under Article 58 (1) of the constitution.

A notification issued here by President House, said “President of Pakistan, Dr Arif Alvi, has approved the advice of the prime minister of Pakistan to dissolve the National Assembly under the Article 58 (1) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan”.

“The prime minister’s advice at para 6 of the summary is approved,” it added.

Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif late Wednesday night had sent a summary for the dissolution of the National Assembly to President Alvi, formally beginning the process for the appointment of a caretaker setup.

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

The president dissolved the National Assembly without any delay, as he signed the summary with which the federal cabinet also stood dissolved prematurely.

After the dissolution of the National Assembly, the process to appoint a caretaker prime minister will begin under Article 224-A of the constitution.

Prime Minister Shehbaz and the opposition leader in National Assembly Raja Riaz will hold consultations today (Thursday) to finalise the name of the interim prime minister.

If they failed to agree on the name within three days, the matter will automatically go to the parliamentary committee for the appointment of caretaker PM.

Under the law, the prime minister and the opposition leader will send their respective names for the coveted post to the parliamentary committee.

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, 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 ECP will announce the date of the elections under Article 224-1 and if the assembly is dissolved before the completion of the constitutional term, the general elections will have to be held within 90 days. After the general elections, the ECP is bound to officially notify the election results within 14 days as per the constitution.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023