Daily Times

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Thursday suggested the possibility of dissolving the provincial legislature on August 11 to facilitate the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by providing it three months to hold polls, a private TV channel reported.

The tenure of the National Assembly and provincial assemblies is set to expire on August 12 and meetings are under way between the coalition partners for the caretaker set-up. If the government is dissolved before the National Assembly completes its term on August 12, elections would be held within the next 90 days. If the assembly completes its tenure, the ECP is bound to hold polls within the next 60 days.

“The Sindh Assembly will automatically dissolve on the 12th [of August] at midnight. We took our oath on Aug 13, 2018, and if we don’t dissolve it then it will automatically do so on Aug 12. I’ve been getting some news and have had some discussions that the ECP wants three months for holding elections … if we think polls will be held in three months then we will dissolve the assembly a day earlier on the 11th [of August] … I will advise the governor to do so and he will accept it the same day,” the chief minister told a private TV channel. He reiterated that the assembly would dissolve as per schedule if the ECP required two months for conducting elections. Otherwise, he added, the provincial legislature could be dissolved on Aug 11 to facilitate the electoral watchdog by granting it three months.

A day ago, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) lawmaker Rana Ansar created history by becoming the first-ever woman Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly after the speaker declared PTI’s Haleem Adil Sheikh to be removed from the coveted position. The decision to replace Sheikh with Ansar appears to be a result of a tacit understanding between the ruling PPP and opposition MQM-P to finalise with the consensus the caretaker chief minister as the assembly is going to complete its five-year tenure next month.