Islamabad, Aug 5: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has told the coalition partners that he would recommend the dissolution of the National Assembly on August 9, three days before the end of its term and setting the stage for general elections in the cash-strapped country. Mr. Sharif at a dinner reception hosted in honour of the ruling allies at the Prime Minister’s House on August 3 said the National Assembly or the lower house of Parliament would stand dissolved as soon as the President signs the notification he plans to send to him, the Pakistani media reported on Friday. Mr. Sharif, also president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, has repeatedly said that his government will dissolve the National Assembly and the election commission will announce general elections under the provisions of the Constitution. However, if, for any reason, the President does not sign the advice, the 342-member Assembly will be automatically dissolved after 48 hours of receiving the prime minister’s notification. The move will prompt general elections in Pakistan within 90 days as the ruling coalition government gets ready to face polls after the five-year term of Parliament on August 12. The Constitution provides that if the assembly completes its tenure, elections are to be held in 60 days, but in case of premature dissolution — which will be the case here — this period is extended to 90 days.The Prime Minister will send a notification to President Arif Alvi for the dissolution of the National Assembly on August 9, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. At the reception, Mr. Sharif apprised the participants that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had finalized consultations within the party, and the premier would begin a final round of discussions with allies on the caretaker set-up on Friday. Mr. Sharif had last week ruled out the possibility of the appointment of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar as the caretaker prime minister, saying a “neutral person” will be selected to lead the interim government next month to make upcoming general elections transparent. A bill to empower the caretaker set-up to initiate policy decisions was recently passed by Pakistan’s Parliament. Mr. Sharif has also indicated that Nawaz Sharif, three-time former prime minister and his elder brother, who has been living in self-imposed exile in London since 2019 will return to Pakistan in the next few weeks. The 73-year-old PML-N supremo will be the Prime Minister if the party wins the election, he said. The Prime Minister during the reception said the process of appointing the interim premier was expected to take at least three days. An online meeting with allies on the caretaker set-up is also expected to be held on Friday. On August 3, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also held a lengthy meeting with the prime minister on this issue, the source said, according to the report. The premier briefed his allies at the dinner about the coalition government’s performance. He claimed that the government had increased revenue collection by 13 per cent in 15 months as more than 1.3 million new taxpayers were included in the tax net.
