Today is most likely the last day of the coalition government as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is all set to write to President Arif Alvi for the dissolution of the National Assembly.
The government will dissolve the lower house of the parliament earlier than its constitutional term (which ends on August 12) as it seeks to extend the time for elections — which is constitutionally 90 days if an assembly is dissolved prematurely.
Under Article 58 of the Constitution, the premier is bound to advise the president, who then approves it, and if he doesn’t, the assembly stands dissolved within 48 hours.
“The president shall dissolve the National Assembly if so advised by the prime minister; and the National Assembly shall, unless sooner dissolved, stand dissolved at the expiration of forty-eight hours after the prime minister has so advised,” the article reads.
In an interview with a television channel on Tuesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz said that no name had been shortlisted for the caretaker prime minister and a collective decision would be taken in this regard.
The prime minister said that after the coalition government, in consultation with Nawaz Sharif, takes a collective decision, the shortlisted names would be taken up with the opposition leader.
To a question whether the caretaker prime minister could be from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), he said whosoever is finalised for the slot should be acceptable to all.
The prime minister is scheduled to meet Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Raja Riaz at 4pm today.
The elections, which were expected to take place within 90 days, are now pushed to the next year — in February or March.
A delay in elections was confirmed after the Council of Common Interests (CCI) “unanimously” approved the 2023 census last week.
Under the Constitution, the polls are held based on the latest census, and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is bound to start the delimitation process — which takes around four months.
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