President Arif Alvi on Wednesday accorded his approval to the dissolution of the National Assembly (NA) following a recommendation by outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
This marks the conclusion of the current government’s tenure.
The official notification for the dissolution of the assembly was issued from the Aiwan-i-Sadr, citing Article 58 of the Constitution as the basis for this decision.
Article 58 of the Constitution outlines the procedure for dissolving the assembly. It stipulates that if the president does not dissolve the assembly within 48 hours after receiving a recommendation from the Prime Minister, the assembly is automatically dissolved.
Concurrently, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly now have a three-day window, as per constitutional provisions, to finalize the selection of a caretaker prime minister.
In his farewell address to the National Assembly earlier in the day, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif revealed his plan to send a summary for dissolution of the National Assembly to President Dr. Arif Alvi tonight.
Addressing fellow parliamentarians in a farewell ceremony, the Prime Minister expressed his gratitude for their trust and support during 15-month government.
The Prime Minister also disclosed his plans to meet with Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Raja Riaz, on Thursday to discuss the selection of the caretaker Prime Minister.
Leader of the Opposition, Raja Riaz, affirmed that expressed optimism about reaching an agreement on the interim Prime Minister’s name, which would then be presented to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) if consensus on the three proposed names cannot be achieved.
Raja Riaz remained resolute in his commitment to collaborating with Prime Minister Shehbaz to finalize a candidate for the interim Prime Minister’s role. “All efforts will be made to finalize the name of the interim PM with the Prime Minister,” he asserted.
