Islamabad
\nPrime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has assured the nation that his government will hand over the reins to an interim setup next month after the completion of their tenure.
\n\u201cIn August 2023, we will give responsibility to the interim government,\u201d he said in a live address on Thursday.
\nThe premier repeated the circumstances in which the coalition government \u2014 a group of 13 political parties \u2014 came to power in April 2022.
\n\u201c[We] cleaned up the mess of four years in 15 months and doused the fire that had engulfed the economic and foreign relations front,\u201d he said, adding that during their 15 months in power, the coalition government \u201csaved the state, not politics\u201d.
\nHowever, PM Shehbaz added that he is a firm believer that Pakistan can come out of the conspiracies it faces by working day and night.
\nComing back to the previous regime, he said that the last International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme \u2014 signed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government \u2014 was in the way of economic recovery. \u201cHowever, now the new stand-by agreement has been signed.\u201d
\nA day earlier, the IMF approved a 9-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Pakistan for an amount of about $3 billion days after reaching a staff-level agreement with the country.
\nThe premier also thanked China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for \u201csincerely\u201d cooperating with Pakistan during its difficult time. PM Shehbaz added that his government has also developed a comprehensive plan for economic recovery.
\nHe also said that in one-and-a-half years they were in power, they brought the country out of hopelessness and showed the light of hope. He added that it was a journey from unemployment to re-employment.
\n\u201cIt is the only coalition government formed for the shortest term,\u201d the premier further said.
\nThe Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government, he said, is paving the way for investment from Gulf countries in agriculture, industry, energy and defence sectors.
\n\u201cThe confidence of the business and investment community is slowly being restored,\u201d PM Shehbaz said and added that \u201cnow is the time to break the cycle of debt\u201d.
\n\u201cLet\u2019s erase hatred, share love, become one nation,\u201d appealed the PM. He assured that they will reduce inflation and bring employment like they did before.
\nA day earlier, the prime minister also said that the coalition government\u2019s tenure would end on August 14 and the date for the next polls will be announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) either in \u201cOctober or November\u201d.
\nThe premier\u2019s statement suggested that the incumbent rulers are not contemplating dissolving the National Assembly before its scheduled date which is due to expire on August 14 this year.
\nThe general elections take place after 60 days when National Assembly completes its Constitutional tenure. However, if the government dissolves the lower house of parliament before its constitutional term ends then the polls date can be extended to 90 days of the dissolution.
\n\u201cOur government\u2019s tenure will end on August 14 […] the election commission will decide when the polls will take place \u2014 whether in October or November,\u201d he said during the Education Endowment Fund launch ceremony in Islamabad.
\n\u201c…whosoever forms the next government after elections, their top priority should be education so they can make this nation great,\u201d the prime minister said.
\nA budget of Rs3 billion, he said, had been earmarked this fiscal year for the endowment fund to equip the youth with education and make them \u201cbuilders of the nation\u201d.
\nAll major ruling coalition partners \u2014 Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) \u2014 are seemingly on the same page for holding polls in line with the constitutional provision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has assured the nation that his government will hand over the reins to an interim setup next month after the completion of their tenure. \u201cIn August 2023, we will give responsibility to the interim government,\u201d he said in a live address on Thursday. The premier repeated the circumstances in which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342243,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-342860","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n