Pakistan PM Shehbaz says his govt will step down before completing tenure next month

Islamabad [Pakistan], July 16 (ANI): With uncertainty surrounding the tenure of the incumbent National Assembly, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that his government will leave before completing its tenure, reported Geo News.
PM Sharif while addressing a programme at Government College Women’s University in Sialkot on Sunday said, “Next month our government will complete its tenure. We will leave before the completion of our tenure and an interim government will come.”
The comment contradicts what the Prime Minister said about his government a few days ago, when he hinted that his government would finish its term, as per Geo News.
Geo News is a Pakistani news channel launched in October 2002.
PM Sharif had previously claimed that the coalition government's tenure will end on August 14 and that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) would declare the next election date in "October or November."
According to the premier's statement, the present rulers do not intend to dissolve the National Assembly before its scheduled expiration date of August 14 this year.
General elections are held 60 days after the National Assembly's constitutional period ends.
However, if the government dissolves the lower house of parliament before the end of its constitutional term, the polling date can be pushed back to 90 days after the dissolution, according to Geo News.
The prime minister stated during his speech at the Sialkot event that the fall in the price of petroleum products announced by the finance minister the day before was attributable to the deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
According to him, the IMF accord strengthened the rupee against the dollar, making the purchase of oil cheaper. He went on to say that the government responded by lowering the price of fuel items.
Regarding the laptops supplied by his government to students, PM Shehbaz stated that 1,00,000 machines will be provided in the fiscal year 2023-24, while the ones being distributed today are those designated in the fiscal year 2022-23. He also expressed gratitude to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for enabling the computers to be imported, as per Geo News.
He said, “I want to tell the nation's girls that it wasn’t a favour to give you laptops but is being provided on merit.”
PM Sharif also said that this year Pakistan Rupee (PKR) 5 billion has been allocated for projects related to women. He added that the nation cannot succeed till its women participate in it.
“All girls who get an education must enter the practical field,” PM Shehbaz further said. All over the world women are working day and night alongside men, he went on to say.
Earlier, while speaking at a cheque distribution ceremony in Lahore, PM Sharif stated that if given the opportunity in the upcoming general elections, Nawaz Sharif and the entire leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) would change the country's destiny by leading it to progress and prosperity, Geo News reported. (ANI)