Pakistan’s major ruling coalition partners have agreed to dissolve the National Assembly on August 8, a few days before the completion of its five-year term, to get extra time for general elections, according to a media report on Tuesday, the 19th of July.
The five-year constitutional term of the incumbent National Assembly expires on August 12 at midnight — four days after the date on which both parties have reportedly agreed to dissolve the legislature.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — the two major stakeholders in the federal government — have agreed to dissolve the National Assembly on August 8, the Geo News reported.
August 9 and 10 also came under discussion, but it was decided to go for August 8 to avoid any hurdle in the early dissolution of the lower house of Parliament, the report said, quoting sources.
According to the law, if the president doesn’t approve the recommendation, the National Assembly stands dissolved after 48 hours — giving the government enough time to achieve its target of premature dissolution.
According to the Constitution, a general election to the National Assembly or a provincial assembly should be held within a period of 60 days immediately following the day on which the term of the Assembly is due to expire unless the Assembly has been dissolved sooner.
However, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is bound to hold the general polls within 90 days if the Assembly is dissolved before its constitutional term. The PML-N party-led Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) alliance thinks that dissolving the National Assembly would be beneficial for it.
“Next month, our government will complete its tenure. We will leave before the completion of our tenure and an interim government will come,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said at an event recently.
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