EDITORIAL: That President Arif Alvi has a lot on his plate suddenly is a fact. Surely, however, much of it is outside his purview. First it came to light that PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) had leveraged his good office to facilitate secret talks between the army chief, then General Bajwa, and Imran Khan, former prime minister.
Then Imran Khan formally wrote to him, demanding an “immediate inquiry” against Gen Bajwa for “violating his oath of office repeatedly”. Then PTI secretary general Asad Umar urged him to take notice of “harassment of party workers” and “human rights violations” in the country.
And then speaker of Punjab Assembly, Sibtain Khan, requested that he “exercise his powers” and announce the date for elections for the dissolved provincial assembly, citing “deliberate inaction” on the part of the ECP (Election Commission of Pakistan).
In between all this Shireen Mazari, one of PTI’s senior leaders, also wished he’d do something about “illegal happenings” in the country in the wake of Fawad Chaudhary’s arrest. All this seems to overlook the very obvious and clear constitutional fact that although the president is the head of state and supreme commander of the armed forces, his position is purely ceremonial as it does not carry any real political or military power.
According to the constitution, “the executive authority of the Federation shall be exercised in the name of the President by the Federal Government, consisting of the Prime Minister and the Federal Ministers, which shall act through the Prime Minister, who shall be the chief executive of the Federation”. Although the president is part of parliament, he is not part of the Executive, so to speak.
Be that as it may, and if there is at all a role for him (President) to play in the present situation, it is one of bridge-building between political parties that conveniently ignore great and grave problems in the rush to tear each other down by any means necessary.
It is still sincerely hoped that President Alvi himself will exercise caution and draw a line beyond which he will not let his party loyalty dilute his legacy.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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