PRESIDENT Dr Arif Alvi, promptly acting on advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, approved premature dissolution of the National Assembly, paving the way for holding the general election in 90 days. This brings an end to the tenure of the house as well as the coalition government led by Shehbaz Sharif, who will, of course, continue as PM till formation of the caretaker setup as envisaged in the relevant provisions of the Constitution. It is now for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to announce a date for the general election under Article-224/1 of the Constitution but it has first to decide what to do with the constitutional requirement of carrying out fresh delimitation of constituencies for National as well as provincial assemblies because results of the latest population census have already been notified.
As confusion still persists about the exact timing of the elections, the Senate of Pakistan Wednesday passed a resolution urging the Election Commission to take steps for the holding of the general election within the stipulated time given under Article 224 of the Constitution. The move came in the midst of speculations that polls might be delayed for three to five months. Referring to the ruling of the Supreme Court that holding elections under Article 224 of the Constitution was a must after the dissolution of the National Assembly and provincial assemblies or completion of their respective terms, in each case, the resolution also urged state institutions to provide all possible assistance to the ECP in conducting elections on time, fulfilling its constitutional responsibility. In a related development, the opposition PTI has decided to approach the apex court against the decision to notify results of the census, apprehending that it was being used as a ploy to delay the general election. It means the issue would be decided by the top court with input from the Election Commission and constitutional experts. Things would also become clear by the nature of the composition of the interim government which has been mandated to take important policy decisions in the realm of economy to ensure continuity of the policies initiated by the coalition government to meet obligations under the recently- concluded accord with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). No doubt, the popularity of the PML(N) witnessed a sharp decline during the last 16 months because of the difficult decisions that the government had to take to restore some semblance of economic and financial stability in the country. It was because of the feared backlash of these policies during immediate elections that, notwithstanding their public posture demonstrating willingness for polls, the PML(N) and some other coalition partners want some delays in polls to get sufficient time for mobilization of the masses to their favour. It has to be acknowledged that people of Pakistan paid a heavy price for the bitter decisions taken during the last sixteen months but there is consensus today that the country is mostly out of the woods and on the path of economic recovery. The threat of default is no longer there and continuation of the policies and programmes would hopefully have a positive impact on the overall economic and financial landscape of the country, especially in the backdrop of a number of prudent strategies launched by the government with the full backing of the military leadership to stabilize the situation. A Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) has been established which offers the best opportunity to take the country to new heights of progress and development through massive investment in different sectors of the national economy. This is in addition to the hard work done to rejuvenate all aspects of the historic initiative of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under which Beijing has already invested about $30 billion in Pakistan’s economy. Thanks to the steady focus of the government, the country has best of relations both with the Russian Federation and the United States while irritants in the way of cementing bonds with brotherly countries of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Iran have been removed and the relationship is on a higher trajectory. All these prospects augur well for the country but expeditious steps will have to be taken to end confusion about political stability and promote national reconciliation.
