Pakistan's president dissolves National Assembly, paves way for general elections
- 10 Aug 2023
Tariq Butt, Correspondent / Agencies
President Arif Alvi ordered parliament dissolved late on Wednesday, opening the door to a caretaker government that will usher in elections in which the country’s most popular politician, Imran Khan, has been sidelined.
Alvi dissolved the National Assembly (NA) two days before the completion of its five-year tenure shortly after midnight after a summary signed by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, advising the dissolution of the lower house, was sent to the Presidency.
A statement issued by the Presidency said Alvi dissolved the National Assembly under Article 58(1) on the advice of the prime minister. After the approval of Shahbaz’s summary, the federal cabinet also stood dissolved.
According to the Pakistani constitution, if the NA is terminated before its stipulated time, the general elections would be held within 90 days and if it completes its mandated period then the election will take place within 60 days.
Following the end of the government, the Prime Minister will discuss with the opposition leader of the house to decide on a caretaker premier who will take charge until the next general elections.
As for the dissolution of the provincial assemblies, Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo denied reports that he had sent a summary to Governor Malik Abdul Wali Kakar to wrap up the provincial legislature.
“I am not in a hurry to send advice for dissolving the Balochistan Assembly,” Bizenjo said. However, he said he might sign a summary on Aug.12. Bizenjo said that no name had been finalised for the caretaker chief minister. Meanwhile, the Sindh Assembly remains in session.
Per the Constitution, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif will continue in office till the caretaker premier is appointed. Legal experts say the process of appointing a caretaker prime minister is simple enough and should be seamless.
Supreme Court advocate Salman Raja says that the process detailing the appointment of a caretaker prime minister and chief minister is given in Articles 224 and 224A of the Constitution.
Article 224 says that “the caretaker prime minister shall be appointed by the president in consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition in the outgoing National Assembly.” This is replicated in the case of a province: so a caretaker chief minister will be appointed by the governor in consultation with the chief minister and the leader of the opposition in the outgoing provincial assembly. This process can take a maximum of three days from the day of the National Assembly’s dissolution.
What happens if the two sides cannot agree on a name? In that case, says Raja, Article 224A comes into play. If even after three days there is no consensus between the outgoing prime minister and the outgoing leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, under Article 224A(1) they are to “forward two nominees each to a committee to be immediately constituted by the speaker of the National Assembly.”
This committee should comprise eight members of the outgoing National Assembly, or the Senate, or both. There is to be equal representation from the treasury and the opposition, and the members of the committee are to be nominated by the prime minister and the leader of the opposition respectively. The process remains the same in the provinces, Article 224A (2) laying out the process in that case.
The committee has three days to come to a decision regarding the name of the caretaker prime minister or chief minister. But it is quite possible that even at this stage, there is no consensus between the outgoing treasury and the outgoing opposition.
Envisaging this, the constitution has provided for such an eventuality in the form of Article 224A(3), which says that “in case of inability of the committee to decide the matter” within three days, “the names of the nominees shall be referred to the Election Commission of Pakistan for final decision within two days.” There is no fourth recourse after this and, as put by Raja “the ECP is the last word [in this matter].”
The total process for nominating a caretaker prime minister or caretaker chief minister can thus take up to eight days, and per the constitution that is the limit.
In his farewell speech at the NA on Wednesday, the outgoing Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif termed his 16-month-long tenure as the country’s chief executive the “most difficult test of my life.”
“I never had to go through such a difficult test before in my 38-year-long [political] career as the country was mired in a severe economic crisis, oil prices remained high and there was political chaos,” he said.
Earlier in his last address to the cabinet, Shahbaz said that “in the past 16 months, our government tried its best to improve the situation and served the nation with full conviction.” “This country can’t progress until we have national unity,” he said.
Shahbaz held his last cabinet meeting and said in televised comments he had faced multiple challenges, including the country’s worst economic crisis and devastating floods which killed 1,739 people and caused $30 billion in damage in Pakistan in 2022. In a farewell address, the premier also expressed outrage over the disrespectful acts targeting the memorials of martyrs on May 9. Later, Shahbaz addressed lawmakers in the National Assembly (NA) and posed for a picture with the members of the parliament.
Though the dissolution could pave the way for parliamentary elections by mid-November, the government could delay the vote by several months if it decides to redraw constituencies based on recent census results.