Throwing shade at his office’s ‘foray’ into the domain of other constitutional institutions, the government on Monday excoriated President Arif Alvi after he unilaterally announced a date for elections on provincial assemblies, warning him of legal action against violation of the Constitution.
Ministers and leaders from almost all constituent parties of the ruling PDM vehemently voiced their anger over the president’s “shocking” move, asking him to stay within his limits or face the music for his transgressions.
Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif indicated that Alvi violated the Constitution by announcing elections.
He said the president crossed his constitutional limits. “What the president has done is against law and the Constitution.” He added the government reserved the right to act against “unconstitutional measures”.
Read: President Alvi announces Punjab, K-P elections on April 9
He also alleged that President Alvi was “toeing his party’s line”. "He (Alvi) is working as a PTI party member and does not respect his role as president,” he said, asserting that the House reserved the right to "move legally according to the constitution against such transgressions".
“There is no justification for this action,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar also took great exception to Alvi’s announcement of the polls, noting that the president could announce the date for the election of the National Assembly but not for the provincial assemblies after their dissolution.
“He had no constitutional jurisdiction to announce the date for the elections of Punjab and KP assemblies and thus he has violated the Constitution,” the law minister said in his NA speech.
Tarar said those talking about upholding the Constitution had “themselves violated it in the past”. “The NA was dissolved within three minutes by the president after the ruling of the former deputy speaker, which was later set aside by the apex court,” he added.
He recalled that the president had even refused to administer the oath to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
‘Alvi inviting trouble’
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah also lashed out at the president and sternly warned that Alvi was taking actions to "invite trouble", and that he should continue to work as president staying within his constitutional jurisdiction.
صدر علوی ”آ بیل مجھے مار“ والے کام نہ کریں، آئین کی حد میں رہیں، صدر کے دفتر کو بلیک میلنگ کا اڈہ نہ بنائیں؛ الیکشن کی تاریخ دینے سے صدر کا کوئی لینا دینا نہیں، عارف علوی خوامخواہ ٹانگ نہ اڑائیں، صدر الیکشن کمشن کو غیرقانونی اور غیر آئینی احکامات پر مجبور نہیں کر سکتا۔
— Rana SanaUllah Khan (@RanaSanaullahPK) February 20, 2023
"Do not make the office of the President a den for blackmailing others. The president has no role in giving dates for elections. He should not force the ECP to carry out his illegal and unconstitutional orders," he said in a tweet.
‘A conspiracy chamber’
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said the presidency has become “a conspiracy chamber”, asserting that the government will beat back any attempt at turning the ECP – a constitutional institution – into Imran Khan's “Tiger Force”.
“An attempt is being made to unconstitutionally take the date of the election by exerting pressure on the election commission,” she claimed and warned that if the president violates the constitution, he will have to face Article 6 (treason).
She emphasised that President Alvi's loyalty should be to the constitution. “According to the Supreme Court, colluding with a political party is a violation of the office and oath of the president,” she added.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman also harshly criticised the president.
آج عارف علوی نے جسطرح خود کو بادشاہ سلامت سمجھ کراورتحریک انصاف کا ورکر سمجھ کر جس طرح آئین کو پاؤں تلے روندتےھوئےاسکی صریحاً خلاف ورزی کی ھے اورگورنرز اور الیکشن کمیشن کے اختیارات میں مداخلت کی ھے یہ واضح مس کنڈکٹ ھے اور الیکشن کمیشن کو اس کے خلاف سخت ایکشن لیناھوگا۔
— Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman (@MoulanaOfficial) February 20, 2023
“The way Arif Alvi, thinking of himself as a monarch and a PTI worker, has trampled upon and violated the Constitution, the way he has interfered in affairs of the governor and ECP. This is clearly misconduct and the election commission should take strict action against it," he said in a statement on Twitter.
‘Constitution reduced to soul-less green book’
Meanwhile, former Chairman Senate and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Raza Rabbani issued a detailed press statement, pointing out nine occasions on which he said the president had transgressed his role as president.
He regretted that the constitution has been reduced to a green book with no soul by all stakeholders. “It provides for elections within 90 days of the dissolution of an assembly. It provides no role for the president in the announcing of such date for a provincial assembly," read the statement.
“The president should stop pontificating on constitutionalism given the fact that, he: (i) accepted the advice of a prime minister under disqualification of Article 95, Constitution, 1973, and dissolved the National Assembly; (ii) refused to give oath to a prime minister and his cabinet, duly elected under the constitution, 1973; (iii) refused to sign on the Advice of the Prime Minister of the removal of the Governor, Punjab; (iv) failed to nominate a person to administer oath to the Chief Minister Punjab as per instructions of the Lahore High Court; (v) filed References in the Supreme Court under Article 209, Constitution, 1973, against sitting Judges of the Superior Courts; (vi) appointment of two members of the Election Commission in contravention of the Constitution; (vii) promulgation of ordinance without application of mind in contravention of Article 89(1), Constitution, 1973; (viii) removal of ombudsman, which was set aside by the Islamabad High Court; and (ix) filing of a Reference in the Supreme Court under Article 186, Constitution, 1973, in furtherance of a political agenda – seeking interpretation of Article 63A, Constitution, 1973."
"This is just the tip of the iceberg of the transgressed steps taken by the president," the senior PPP leader said in his press statement.
At the same time, Senator Sherry Rehman of the PPP asked if Alvi had consulted with the ECP before announcing elections in KP and Punjab, or if he had done this on his own.
Has the President consulted with the ECP before announcing a date of elections in KP and Punjab? Because he cannot do this on his own.
— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) February 20, 2023
صدر عارف علوی کی جانب سے دو صوبائی اسمبلیوں میں انتخابات کی تاریخ کا اعلان غیر آئینی اور غیر قانونی ہے۔ الیکشن ایکٹ 2017 کے آرٹیکل 57 (1) کے مطابق صدر الیکشن کمیشن سے مشاورت کے بعد ہی "عام انتخابات" کی تاریخ کا اعلان کر سکتے ہیں۔ 1/3 pic.twitter.com/Me2H1EXHpA
— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) February 20, 2023
She said that Alvi's announcement was "illegal and unconstitutional", and that according to the Elections Act 2017, the president can only announce a date after consulting the ECP.
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