Pakistan government to hand over power to caretaker setup next month

PAKISTAN prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced that his government will hand over the power to a caretaker setup next month.

This indicated the National Assembly will be dissolved days before the completion of government’s tenure to pace the general election in November.

The prime minister said last week that his government would complete its tenure which is ending on August 13.

However, Shehbaz's change of mind appears to be stemmed from advice from his ally and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Asif Ali Zardari.

"Zardari in a meeting with PM Shehbaz on Saturday asked him to dissolve the National Assembly a couple of days before the government completes its tenure so that elections can be held in November," a senior PPP leader said on Sunday (16).

Under the Constitution, if the National Assembly completes its term, polls should be held within 60 days. But if the assembly is dissolved prematurely, even if by a day, it would give the government 90 days to conduct elections.

The five-year term of the National Assembly commenced under the then-Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government of Imran Khan on August 12, 2018. But he was ousted from power last year through a parliamentary vote and Sharif succeeded him as the prime minister.

(PTI)