Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif to hand over power to caretaker govt as general election nears

Pushing the country a step closer to general elections, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he will hand over power to a caretaker government next month.

“We will hand over the responsibility to the caretaker government in August 2023,” he said in a televised speech to the nation on Thursday.

Sharif took over in April 2022 after leading a coalition of parties that removed Imran Khan from power through a parliamentary vote of no-confidence. His term ends in mid-August.

The so-called caretaker government supervises the national election, which must be held within 60 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly, parliament’s lower house. If the legislature is dissolved days before the completion of its term, the elections are to be held within 90 days.

The polling date will be announced by the Election Commission.

Thursday’s announcement takes Pakistan closer to national elections that are expected to be held later this year. The government has yet not announced when it will dissolve the National Assembly.

The polls are intended to bring an end to political volatility that has beleaguered the country since the ouster of former premier Imran Khan in April last year. Violence erupted after his brief arrest in May on corruption charges. A crackdown on his party and supporters has since decimated his power base.

The upheaval has also undermined efforts to shore up the country’s fragile economic situation. It secured a last minute short-term initial deal with the International Monetary Fund to avoid a potential debt default, just hours before the expiry of a $6.7 billion loan program.

“The only way we have now is to break the begging bowl and stand on our own feet,” said Sharif, referring to Pakistan’s external debt.

This will only be the third time in the South Asian nation’s 76-year history that the National Assembly will complete its five-year term, though no prime minister has served out their full tenure in that time.

Still, it can be seen as a sign of a strengthening democracy in a country that has been directly controlled by the powerful military for much of its post-independence history.

Pakistan needs a stable government to tackle its significant economic challenges. It’s seen growth slow sharply, is facing record borrowing costs and contending with persistently high inflation. All the while, the IMF is watching and weighing whether the government is doing enough to hold up its side of the bailout agreement.

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