Will transfer power to caretaker setup next month, says Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif

Earlier this month, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that his government would hand over power to a caretaker setup before the end of its tenure next month. This likely means that the National Assembly will be dissolved a few days early to speed up the general election scheduled for November.

It was only a few days ago that the prime minister announced his government’s term would finish on August 13.

Shehbaz’s apparent about-face appears to be the result of counsel from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Asif Ali Zardari, with whom he is politically aligned.

A top PPP leader informed PTI on Sunday that Zardari had met with PM Shehbaz on Saturday and asked him to dismiss the National Assembly a couple of days before the government’s tenure ended so that elections could be held in November.

If the National Assembly’s term ends, elections must be held within 60 days under the Constitution. If the parliament were dissolved early, even by a single day, the administration would have ninety days to hold elections.

The current ruling alliance, headed by Shehbaz, will finish the five-year term of the National Assembly that began on August 12, 2018 under the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government of Imran Khan.

Shehbaz announced the end of his administration’s term last month during a laptop distribution event in Sialkot. Ideally, we’ll be able to leave before the current administration’s term ends and the new one takes office.

He went on to claim that a victory for his PML-N party in the next elections would alter the course of Pakistan’s history.

According to Shehbaz, his government’s term would finish next month, and the Election Commission of Pakistan will announce the election date at that time.

Some political experts have speculated that this indicates the major parties and the establishment were not on the same page about when to hold the elections.