NA condemns ‘unconstitutional orders’ of President Alvi

Resolution calls upon the president to act in a non-partisan manner

ISLAMABAD:

The National Assembly (NA) on Wednesday passed a resolution condemning the “unconstitutional orders” of President Dr Arif Alvi.

It called upon the president to act in a non-partisan manner and perform his functions strictly in accordance with Article 48 of the Constitution of Pakistan.

While the treasury benches passed it with majority vote in the presence of 40 lawmakers, the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) in the opposition opposed it.

The resolution was tabled by lawmaker Mohsin Dawar.

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"This House resolves under the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, obedience to the Constitution and the Law, is the invaluable obligation of every citizen wherever he may be, and of every other person for time being within Pakistan,” it read.

It pointed out that according to the oath of the office, "the President will not allow his personal interests to influence his official conduct or his official decisions. He is also bound to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution."

The NA session was then adjourned till 11am on Thursday.

It is worth mentioning here that the government and opposition are currently at loggerheads over the status of Omar Sarfraz Cheema as the governor of Punjab.

Following a chaotic election for the chief minister slot in the Punjab Assembly, Cheema had refused to administer the oath of office to Hamza Shehbaz, who had been elected as the new chief executive of the province.

Following this, the federal government tried to remove Cheema from office. However, the governor made it clear that he could only be removed by the president. The president, subsequently, allowed him to continue in office and rejected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s summaries for his removal.

With input from APP