Will send NA dissolution summary to President Alvi tonight: PM Shehbaz

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday announced that 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, ARY News reported.

The outgoing prime minister made these remarks while addressing the farewell session of the lower house of parliament – National Assembly as government’s tenure set to end today.

Addressing the NA floor, PM Shehbaz said that his government faced several challenges and difficulties during its 16-month-long tenure, terming it as the “most difficult test of my life”.

“I have never faced such a difficult test before in my 38-year-long political career as the country was mired in a severe economic crisis and there was political chaos,” the premier said.

‘PTI’s negligence’

Lambasting the previous government, he said that his government had to bear the burden of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) “failure and negligence”.

PM Shehbaz further said that the previous government had damaged Pakistan’s reputation by violating the agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“The PTI government also badly damaged Pakistan’s relations with friendly countries”, he said, adding that the “cipher drama” fueled the fire.

He claimed that the previous government took steps on the most important internal matters of Pakistan, which created the worst atmosphere in the country and spread poisonous propaganda.

Moreover, he also condemned the May 9 episode when protests erupted across the country following Imran Khan’s arrest. Amid the protests, military installations including Jinnah House, also known as Corps Commander House Lahore, came under attack.

“May 9 will be remembered as a black day,” PM Shehbaz said, claiming that the event was a rebellion against Pakistan Army, the state and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Asim Munir.

The prime minister urged the National Assembly to adopt a resolution and pledge that “no one should be allowed to commit such acts against the state or army of Pakistan ever again”.

Economic stability

Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz Sharif said that the project of Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) was launched to improve the economic situation of the country.

“The federal government, all provinces, institutions especially the Pakistan Army are part of this project,” he said adding that it is the best opportunity for the country to take it to new heights of development and prosperity.

The outgoing prime minister hoped that the incoming governments would continue this project with the same passion.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan’s parliament is due to be dissolved today (Wednesday), three days before the completion of the five-year parliamentary term.

Incumbent National Assembly’s full tenure will end on August 12 and if it completes its stipulated time then elections will be held within 60 days. However, the Constitution states that the polls must be held within 90 days if the assembly is dissolved before the completion of its tenure.

It would be liable to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold polls within 90 days if the summary is moved to dissolve the lower house on August 9 (tomorrow).

Before dissolution of the assembly, 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.