No decision on NA dissolution date yet: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Tuesday asserted that no decision had been taken yet by the incumbent government and its allies regarding the dissolution date of the National Assembly.

Reacting to media reports about the NA’s early dissolution on August 8, days before its term completes on August 12, the information minister declared on Tuesday that no decision has been taken yet on the date for dissolution of the National Assembly.

She said the date would be decided in consultation between the government and its allies.

“There will be an official announcement about the date of the NA’s dissolution,” Aurangzeb said.

Mainstream media has also been reporting contradictory statements from various leaders of the coalition parties regarding the timing of the general elections. Federal Minister for Commerce Naveed Qamar, who belongs to the PPP, had recently stated that the assembly should be dissolved on August 8 to enable the Election Commission of Pakistan sufficient time to hold elections in November.

However, another cabinet member belonging to the PPP, had claimed that there had been no decision in the party about the date for the dissolution of the NA and that Qamar’s statement was his “personal opinion or suggestion”.

Another key cabinet member belonging to the ruling PML-N had told Dawn that the date of the assembly’s dissolution would be finalised by the coalition partners “very soon.”

“It will be a collective decision of the Pakistan Democratic Movement and other coalition parties,” the minister had said.

As per law, general elections take place within 60 days if the elected house completes its constitutional tenure of five years. In case of early dissolution, elections are held within 90 days of the dissolution.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had said he will hand over the reins to the caretaker set-up next month before the completion of the assembly’s tenure.

“Next month our government will complete its tenure, [but] we will leave before the completion of our tenure and an interim government will come in,” the prime minister had said while speaking at a laptop distribution ceremony at the Government College Women’s University in Sialkot.

Ministry sends proposal to convene NA’s farewell session on July 20

A proposal is being discussed to convene the farewell session of the National Assembly next week.

The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has sent a summary to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to convene the session of Lower House of the Parliament on July 20 or July 21.

Prime Minister will forward the summary to convene the assembly session.

Both the PML-N and PPP have reportedly reached agreement to dissolve National Assembly ahead of August 12.

Earlier, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the two major political parties in Pakistan, have reached a mutual agreement to dissolve the National Assembly before August 12. This decision sets the stage for a potential snap election in the country.

However, the information minister has denied the reports being circulated in the media.

Sindh Assembly likely to be dissolved on Aug 8

The Sindh Assembly is likely to be dissolved along with National Assembly on August 9, sources said Tuesday.

Sources privy to the matter said that Sindh Assembly secretary has been tasked to complete all paper work regarding the dissolution of assembly by August 7.

The last session of the existing provincial assembly is expected to be summoned in first week of August, they say. The development comes hours after it emerged that the National Assembly will be dissolved on August 08.

The summary of dissolution of the lower house of the Parliament will be delivered to the President, sources said. “If the President kept the summary in pending, the assembly will stand dissolved in 48 hours as per the law,” sources added.

People’s Party, the ruling party in Sindh, has also agreed with the federal government to dissolve the provincial legislature along with the NA, sources said.

Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has summoned the session of the Constitutional Committee on July 20.

The session will consider over matters related to the approval of the election reforms law. All parliamentary parties’ leaders have been invited to the session of the constitutional committee. It is to be mentioned here that the lower house of the Parliament will complete its five-year tenure on August 13.