The move comes after NA deputy speaker throws out no-trust motion against PM Imran
Islamabad
President Dr Arif Alvi on Sunday dissolved the National Assembly on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s advice under Article 58 of the Constitution.
“The president of Pakistan, Dr Arif Alvi, has approved the advice of the prime minister of Pakistan to dissolve the National Assembly under the Article 58 (1) read with Article 48(1) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” according to a statement issued by the President’s Secretariat.
Hours later, the Cabinet Secretariat issued a notification stating that Imran Khan “ceased to hold the office of the prime minister of Pakistan with immediate effect”.
The notification, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, read: “Consequent upon dissolution of the National Assembly by the president of Pakistan, in terms of Article 58(1) read with Article 48(1) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, vide Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs’ SRO no. 487(1)/2022, dated April 3, 2022, Mr Imran Khan Niazi ceased to hold the office of the prime minister of Pakistan with immediate effect.”
Earlier today, Prime Minister Imran, in an address to the nation, said he had advised the president to “dissolve assemblies”.
According to Article 58, “The president shall dissolve the National Assembly if so advised by the prime minister; and the National Assembly shall, unless sooner dissolved, stand dissolved at the expiration of forty-eight hours after the prime minister has so advised.”
The premier’s announcement came moments after National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, who was chairing today’s session, dismissed the no-confidence resolution against Prime Minister Imran Khan before voting could take place, terming it a contradiction of Article 5 of the Constitution, which says loyalty to the state is the basic duty of every citizen.
Suri’s ruling came after Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, in a speech on the floor of the house, urged him to disallow the no-trust resolution against the premier, referring to a threat received from a foreign country which had also been rebuked by the National Security Committee.
The government claims that the no-trust motion against the premier was a “foreign funded conspiracy”, citing a ‘threat letter’ that was received from a foreign country through Pakistan’s ambassador, asking for the removal of PM Imran.
The military, meanwhile, distanced itself from the political developments in the country. “Army has nothing to do with the political process,” Major General Babar Iftikhar, the head of the military’s public relations wing, told Reuters in response to a question about the institution’s involvement in Sunday’s developments.
In his address today, Prime Minister Imran congratulated the nation for the no-trust motion being dismissed, saying the deputy speaker had “rejected the attempt of changing the regime [and] the foreign conspiracy”.
