This is apropos a Business Recorder news item "AGP rejects rumours" carried by the newspaper yesterday. According to it, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Ashtar Ausaf Ali has said powers of the president to dissolve assemblies or pardon any convict are conditional to the advice of the Prime Minister and the cabinet. He has expressed these views in response to rumours of dissolution of assemblies and any possibility of presidential pardon for disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
According to him, though the president is the head of the state but has a limited role in dissolution of the parliament and extending pardon to anyone.
Rejecting a claim of opposition that Nawaz Sharif is still running affairs as a premier, Ashtar said Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is fully powerful and does not take dictation from anyone. He said the Prime Minister enjoys no additional powers and all decisions have been made by the cabinet.
No doubt, the AGP is a person who by long study has gained mastery in his field. How ironic however it is that the AGP has tried to underplay the situation which is strongly characterised by confusion and uncertainly. According to him, everything is hunky-dory. He is, however, required to recognise the fact that the situation is grim; nothing is hunky-dory.