PM to write to president today for dissolution of National Assembly

• Caretaker setup will take reins of the government: PM Shehbaz.
• Urges next govt to work day and night to break "begging bowl".
• Says if given chance, Nawaz Sharif will rid country of challenges.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that he will send the summary for the dissolution of the National Assembly today (Wednesday) to President Arif Alvi.

“After completing our [coalition govt's] tenure, I will write to the president of Pakistan to dissolve the assembly,” the premier said while addressing a ceremony in Islamabad on Tuesday.

He said the caretaker setup will take the reins of the government.

The current National Assembly’s tenure will end on August 12 and if it completes its stipulated time then elections are supposed to take place 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.

But, after the Council of Common Interests (CCI) in its meeting last week approved the census 2023, the general elections scheduled for November are likely to be delayed till next year as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is now required to carry out fresh delimitation of constituencies.

An official statement issued following the CCI meeting said the new census results were approved by all members including four chief ministers with consensus.

Earlier today, Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Raja Riaz said that he would call on PM Shehbaz today (Wednesday) to hold a consultation on the name of the caretaker prime minister.

Under the Constitution, if the prime minister and the leader of the opposition failed to agree on any name, the matter will be referred to a parliamentary committee. 

And in case the parliamentary committee does not reach any conclusion, the matter will be left for the Election Commission of Pakistan to decide.

‘Next govt should break begging bowl’

In the same address, the premier while highlighting economic challenges the country was facing said the next government, which will come into power after elections, should “work day and night to break the begging bowl and make Pakistan great”.

Recalling the previous tenure of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, PM Shehbaz said then-prime minister and incumbent party supremo Nawaz Sharif rid the country of power outages.

“If Nawaz Sharif gets a chance [to rule the country again], we will bring an agricultural revolution, end poverty and get rid of debt,” the PM added.

The premier said the country remained gripped by the political chaos and facing unprecedented challenges.

He said the country would have defaulted without the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme but lamented that the “government’s hands were tied” by the global lender as it cannot give subsidies.

“The conditions of the IMF are very tough..there is no doubt about it,” the PM said while referring to the recent hike in electricity tariffs on the global lender’s demand.

Solarisation of tube wells

At the ceremony, the prime minister launched a project to convert 100,000 agriculture tube wells into solar power across the country.

He said agriculture will bring economic prosperity in the country and emphasised the need for developing the sector to facilitate farmers by providing them with good quality seeds, low-cost fertilisers and electricity.

He said low-cost electricity is inevitable for every sector of the economy including industry, agriculture and exports as everything is dependent on it and solar power is the ultimate relief in this regard.