Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has asked President Dr Arif Alvi to respect his constitutional stature, saying he had nothing to do with the date for elections.

In a statement on Twitter, the interior minister said that Dr Alvi should act as the president of Pakistan and not as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s spokesperson.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader stated that Imran has previously made the president, speaker, deputy speaker and governors do unconstitutional things.

Sanaullah said, through his letter, President Alvi has intruded into the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) domain, regretting that Imran was pressurising the electoral body while using the office of the president.

He said that President Alvi was an accomplice in PTI’s foreign funding case.

The president, while addressing a conference on Saturday, said that democracy could be strengthened by implementing the Constitution, so elections must be held as per the constitutional requirement.

Referring to the current situation in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Alvi said he once again wrote a letter to the chief election commissioner for holding a meeting so that the election dates could be announced in both provinces as per the constitutional requirement.

Dr Alvi said it was a constitutional requirement to hold the elections within 90 days of the dissolution of any assembly, so matters should be settled as per the Constitution.

Earlier, President Alvi invited Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja for an urgent meeting on February 20 regarding consultations on the date of general elections.

The meeting, to be held at the President’s House, will discuss Section 57(1) of the Elections Act, 2017 which provides that the President shall announce the date or dates of the general elections after consultation with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

In his letter to the CEC, the President said that since his letter dated February 8, some substantial developments (e.g., the Judgment of the Honourable Lahore High Court and recent observations of the Honourable Supreme Court) took place.

He expressed displeasure over the apathy and inaction on the part of the Commission that didn’t respond to his earlier letter as yet.

The President stated that he had waited anxiously that the ECP would realise its constitutional duties to proceed and act accordingly, but was extremely dismayed by the commission’s poignant approach on this important matter.