Pakistani president dissolves national assembly at PM's request

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani President Arif Alvi dissolved Sunday the National Assembly at the request of the country's prime minister, said a statement from the president's secretariat.

"President of Pakistan Arif Alvi has approved the advice of the Prime Minister of Pakistan to dissolve the National Assembly under Article 58 (1) read with Article 48 (1) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan," said the statement.

Earlier in the day, in a televised address to the nation on national TV, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan told the nation that he had sent advice to the president to dissolve the national assembly or the lower house of the parliament.

Khan said a foreign power hatched a conspiracy to remove his government through a no-confidence motion against him, and the deputy speaker of the lower house rejected the motion because the nation cannot let such kind of conspiracies succeed.

"I want to tell my nation to start preparing for elections and not let any foreign power decide the future of Pakistan," said Imran Khan, adding that once the national assembly is dissolved, a procedure to appoint a caretaker set-up will start.

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Twitter that the president has asked Khan to continue working as the prime minister until the caretaker government is formed.