National Assembly stands dissolved as President Alvi signs summary

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) has been dissolved after President Dr Arif Alvi signed the summary sent by Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif for disbanding the legislative, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

“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 on X, formerly known as Twitter.

With the dissolution of the lower house of parliament, the tenure of current government – which came into power after former prime minister and PTI chief Imran Khan was ousted through a vote of no-confidence – ended prematurely.

The prime minister, while addressing the National Assembly’s (NA) session earlier in the day, said he would write to President Dr Arif Alvi tonight to dissolve the National Assembly (NA), which would bring the government’s term to a premature end.

The government had announced that assemblies would be dissolved on August 9 (today), three days ahead of its mandated period, following which elections are to be held within 90 days.

‘Elections likely to be delayed’

However, ministers have recently stated that there was a possibility of a delay in holding the next general elections as the Council of Common Interest (CCI) “unanimously” approved the 2023 census.

Khawaja Asif stated that there is a possibility of a delay in holding the next general elections.

“I do believe that elections will be held in November. But you asked me if there is a possibility of delay: There is a possibility of a delay but not more than a couple of months on technical grounds,” he said.

When asked whether the approval of the 2023 census would result in an election delay, Khawaja Asif said: “I cannot speculate at the moment but it is a possibility. I won’t rule that out.”

On the other hand, Rana Sanaullah said that the general elections would be held in the third week of February or the first week of March after new delimitations.

Formation of caretaker setup

Following dissolution of National Assembly (NA), the government and the opposition required to agree over the caretaker set up to fill the gap before the next general election and installation of elected new government.

The ruling coalition’s consultation is underway or the appointment of a “mutually agreed” name for caretaker prime minister (PM).

Names of Ishaq Dar, Hafeez Sheikh and Justice Shakeel Baloch among others have emerged for the interim premier’s slot but the incumbent government has not confirmed any of them.

Earlier in the day, name of former foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani emerged as a strong candidate for the caretaker Prime Minister’s slot.

Sources having knowledge of the matter said the former foreign secretary has reached PM House to meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Opposition Leader Raja Riaz are scheduled to meet today (August 10) to finalise the name for the caretaker PM.