Alvi should act as president, not Imran Khan’s spokesman: Pak Interior Minister

Islamabad, Feb 19 (IANS) Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah “censured” President Arif Alvi, asking him to respect his constitutional stature as he has nothing to do with the date for elections, the media reported Sunday.

The interior minister, in a statement, said that Alvi should act as the president of Pakistan and not as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s spokesperson, The News reported.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader stated that the former prime minister, prior to this, made the president, speaker, deputy speaker and governors do “unconstitutional” things, The News reported.

He said Alvi was “intruding” into the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) domain, claiming that Khan was pressurising the electoral body while using the office of the president.

The minister said that President Alvi was an “accomplice” in PTI’s foreign funding case, The News reported.

On the other hand, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that the President should remain within his constitutional limits.

Taking to Twitter, Asif said that the president should not trespass the ECP’s limits. “He (President Alvi) should not do politics. He should remember that he usurped the constitutional post as a result of a selection/occurrence in 2018.”

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

Referring to the current situation in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, 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.

–IANS

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