RNS: The Pakistan National Assembly was dissolved and Imran Khan called for fresh elections in the country.
Following Prime Minister Imran Khan’s advice, President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly on Sunday. Imran also advised the President to call for fresh elections.
The development comes after the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly refused to hold a vote of no-confidence. Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri dismissed the no-trust move against Prime Minister Imran Khan, terming it against Article 5 of the Constitution. Suri chaired today’s session after opposition parties filed a no-confidence motion against Speaker Asad Qaiser.
Fawad Chaudhry, Information Minister of Pakistan, said that loyalty to the state was the basic duty of every citizen under Article 5. He told MPs that Pakistani officials had been told of ‘an operation for a regime change by a foreign government’.
He said this went against the Constitution and the Deputy Speaker, chairing the session, proceeded to declare the vote unlawful. Later, Imran Khan told the people to prepare for elections in a public address to the nation.
Pakistan’s Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib said that fresh elections would be held in the country within 90 days. The opposition has filed a petition to the country’s Supreme Court.
A three-member bench of the top court, comprising Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar heard the case and issued notices to all the respondents, including President Alvi and the deputy speaker of the National Assembly.
