President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday announced that general elections to the National Assembly shall be held on 11th of May this year.

Spokesperson to the President Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the President announced the date as soon as the summary was received from the Prime Minister a short while ago.The Prime Minister had advised the President to announce a suitable date for holding general elections to the National Assembly in terms of Article 48 (1) of the Constitution read with the relevant statutory provisions.

The National Assembly stood dissolved on completion of its constitutional term of five years on 16th of this month.The Spokesperson said that section 11 (1) of the Representation of the People Act 1976 says "As soon as may be necessary and practicable‚ the President makes an announcement of the date or dates on which the polls shall be taken‚

the Election Commission‚ not later than thirty days of such announcement shall‚ by notification in the official gazette‚ call upon a constituency to elect a representative or representatives".In view of this legal provision the Prime Minister advised the President to announce a suitable date for holding general elections to the National Assembly which the President did by announcing 11th of May as the date for elections.