President urged to play his constitutional role

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi on Saturday said President Dr Arif Alvi should play his constitutional role instead of giving the statements that showed his biasness for a specific political party.

Speaking in a Current Affairs programme of a private television channel, he said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was a registered political party with a large number of spokespersons who were using every resource to speak for themselves. The President should not make such statements that showed his “biasness” towards a certain political party, the minister added.

As regards the letter wrote by the President to Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar about absence of level-playing field, he said how many times President Arif Alvi conveyed his concerns to former PM Imran Khan over the human rights violations during the four-year tenure of the PTI’s government.

He recalled that the journalists were abducted and attacked, opposition leaders arrested under false cases and media gags were imposed during the PTI’s government tenure. The minister said the National Assembly was dissolved illegally for the first time in the history to prevent the no-confidence motion against former prime minister Imran Khan.

He said the President had a role of the symbol of federation in the constitutional framework and he should fulfill his responsibilities in accordance with the constitution. According to the constitution, the President was the supreme commander of the armed forces, he said, adding why President Arif Alvi did not take any action when the sensitive installations were attacked on May 9. “How many letters, the President wrote in this regard,” Solangi questioned.

To a query, he asked PTI leader Omar Ayub to refrain from lecturing him on his constitutional duties. He said if any party or individual had any complaint regarding level-playing field in the elections, they could reach out to the courts and the Election Commission that were functioning independently in the country.

To another query, the minister said the caretaker government would address all the complaints within its jurisdiction and in accordance with the Constitution and law. The Election Commission was responsible for conducting transparent, free, fair, and impartial elections in the country, he remarked. (APP)