Pakistan government announces that it will call for dissolution of parliament
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced today that he will ask Pakistani President Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly and make way for an interim government to call general elections, scheduled for later this year.
"Tonight, with the permission of the House, I will send the declaration for the dissolution of the National Assembly to the president," Sharif said during his speech in the Assembly, according to Pakistani media Dawn.
Sharif was one of the initiators of the no-confidence motion that ended the rule of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in April 2022, whom he succeeded to power and who was subsequently sentenced to three years in prison.
In his last speech of the parliamentary term, Sharif announced that he would meet tomorrow, Thursday, with the leader of the opposition in the Assembly to discuss the appointment of a new interim prime minister, who would lead the country until general elections are held.
The dissolution of his government, in the absence of Alvi's approval, comes three days before the deadline set by the Pakistani constitution, in a move that will delay the holding of elections, as the law establishes a ninety-day margin in the event that the mandate has ended prematurely, which is reduced to sixty in the case of completing the legislature.
However, several members of the government have raised doubts in recent days about whether these deadlines will be met, after Pakistan's new census was approved last weekend, which implies a change in the electoral districts that could delay the elections.
During his 45-minute speech, Sharif gave a brief review of the 16 months he has been in power, backed by a coalition of more than ten parties that pushed for Khan's removal from office.
"I never had to go through such a difficult ordeal before in my [political] career of 38 years, as the country was mired in a severe economic crisis, oil prices remained high and political chaos," he said.
The dissolution of the government comes a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan announced Khan's disqualification from holding public office for the next five years after he was sentenced to three years in jail for corruption.
Khan, who was arrested on the 5th and is currently in prison, was sentenced to three years in jail for failing to disclose the amount of money he earned by selling gifts received during his tenure as prime minister from 2018 to 2022.
The former Prime Minister today appealed the sentence, which he claims is mainly aimed at keeping him out of the election race.
This is the second time the charismatic opposition leader has been arrested since his ouster. His first arrest, in mid-May, ended days later amid intense social unrest in the country driven by his supporters demanding his release.