ISLAMABAD, Aug 9:
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif today said he would write to President Arif Alvi tonight for the dissolution of the National Assembly, three days before the end of its constitutional term.
Addressing the farewell session of the lower house of Parliament, he said he would meet Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Raja Riaz on Thursday to discuss the names of the caretaker premier.
According to Geo News, sources privy to the matter said that the much-awaited meeting between the premier and the opposition leader was to be held today but it was postponed due to Riaz’s busy schedule.
“There is three days’ time, during which consultations will be done together,” Sharif said, adding that the names for interim premier will go to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) if there is no agreement on the three names.
Riaz insisted that he would ensure an agreement on one name with Prime Minister Shehbaz, the report said.
“All efforts will be made to finalise the name of the interim PM with the prime minister,” he said.
Sharif thanked all parliamentarians for posing trust in him and slammed the previous PTI government led by ousted premier Imran Khan for its negligence and failures.
He also thanked China for supporting Pakistan at a time when the country was going through an economic crisis, saying that without Beijing’s support, the agreement with the IMF would not have been possible.
“Chinese Premier Li Qiang had told me that he himself had talked to the IMF Managing Director to support Pakistan,” he said, adding that in the previous four months, China had rolled over a loan of USD 5 billion for Pakistan.
The dissolution of the National Assembly will pave the way for the next general elections in the country.
The five-year tenure of the 342-member lower house of Parliament will end on August 12.
“On the completion of the incumbent government’s term, I would send a summary to the President of Pakistan for dissolution of the National Assembly by Wednesday and then an interim government will take over,” Sharif said on Tuesday while addressing a ceremony.
President Alvi can either issue a notification forthwith to dissolve the assembly or can delay it for 48 hours and after that, it will stand dissolved.
It is for the second time President Alvi is dissolving the assembly. First, in April of the previous year, then-Prime Minister Khan advised its dissolution, which he followed but the move was subsequently overturned by the Supreme Court.
A final meeting of the federal Cabinet would also be held, where the premier will give a round-up of his government’s performance since April last year, the Dawn newspaper reported.
The 15th National Assembly came into existence following the election held on July 25, 2018, and its first session was inaugurated on August 13. The National Assembly is being dissolved earlier to get more time for holding elections. (PTI)
The current National Assembly’s journey has been tumultuous. It weathered an early dissolution attempt and notably, it etched its name in history by becoming the first to depose a prime minister through a successful no-confidence vote, the Express Tribune newspaper reported.
Over the course of its tenure, the assembly witnessed the election of one president, two prime ministers, two speakers, and two deputy speakers. Despite these changes in leadership, a significant portion of its seats remained unoccupied for nearly 14 months, it said. (PTI)
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