Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said in his reply letter to President Arif Alvi that 'I am replying to your letter so that I can expose your one-sided behavior on record.'
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said in the reply letter written to President Arif Alvi that 'you completely ignored the tampering with the constitution which is very sad.'
President Arif Alvi had written a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on March 24 , expressing concern over the possible postponement of provincial assembly elections and the arrests of Tehreek-e-Insaf members.
On Sunday, Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb has released a reply letter written by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
In the Prime Minister's reply letter consisting of five pages and seven points, it is said that 'President's letter appears to be a press release of Tehreek-e-Insaf. As President, Imran Khan never once condemned the violation of court orders and attacks on those who complied. Tampering with the constitution has been completely ignored by you which is very sad.'
Addressing President Arif Alvi, the Prime Minister said in his letter: 'I am replying to your letter to expose your one-sided behavior on record. On behalf of PTI, you gave the date of election of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assemblies, this decision of yours was rejected by the Supreme Court with the order of March 1, 2023.
It added: 'You did not even show any concern over the dissolution of malicious assemblies in two provinces, all you did was to satisfy the ego and arrogance of Chairman PTI.'
Addressing President Arif Alvi, the Prime Minister further said: 'The provincial assemblies were dissolved not for any constitutional or legal purpose, but only to blackmail the federal government. The country will be caught in a new constitutional crisis.
"You also forgot the requirement of transparent, free and impartial elections under clause three of Article 218."
According to the letter: 'Election Commission has given the date of October 8, 2023 to hold elections in Punjab. All federal and provincial institutions have provided relevant information to the Election Commission. The Constitution has assigned the responsibility of conducting elections to the Election Commission. The Election Commission has to determine that there is a favorable environment under Article 218-3 for conducting transparent and free elections.
The Prime Minister while writing the constitutional passages pointed out that the President's interpretation of Article 46 of the Constitution and Clause 15 five B of the Rules of Business is not correct. Your talk about consultation between the President and the Prime Minister is not correct.
Under Article 48 Clause One of the Constitution, the President is bound to act on the advice of the Cabinet or the Prime Minister.
'It applies to the extent of keeping the president informed, no more and no less. The Prime Minister is not bound to consult the President in exercising the administrative authority of the federal government.
The Prime Minister further wrote: 'Mr President, I and the Federal Government are fully aware of our responsibilities under the Constitution. They are committed to the complete observance, protection and defense of the Constitution. The government is determined that no one should be allowed to take the law into their hands and cause irreparable damage to the state of Pakistan. I assure you that every attempt to weaken the constitutionally elected government will fail.
Addressing President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif further said that 'this behavior of yours is not in accordance with the constitutional role of the President, but the letter has one-sided, anti-government views which you express openly. This letter does not reflect the constitutional position of the President, this is what you are doing continuously.'
The letter further read: 'On April 3, 2022, you followed the unconstitutional directive of the former prime minister by dissolving the National Assembly, your order to dissolve the National Assembly was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on April 7. Even in the matter of taking my oath as Prime Minister under Article 91 clause five, you have failed to fulfill your constitutional duty, on many occasions you have been actively working against the elected constitutional government.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in the letter to the President of Pakistan that he tried his best to establish a good working relationship with you. The language and tone you used in your letter compelled me to answer you. Your reference to human rights violations refers to politicians and activists of one party. Under Article 10A and IV of the Constitution, the requisite protection of the Constitution and the law is given to all these persons. The law enforcement agencies have strictly followed the requisite rules of law enforcement and public order for state administration.'
The Prime Minister wrote: "The President of Pakistan has completely forgotten attacks on law enforcement agencies due to party affiliation, vandalism of private and commercial property, efforts to create chaos. President PTI has made the country an economic default." Ignored the efforts to bring it to the side. Due to PTI, Pakistan's international reputation regarding the constitution, human rights and the future of democracy has been damaged. Such militancy by a political party against a court order has never been seen before.'
According to the Prime Minister: "Our government fully believes in freedom of expression according to Article 19 of the Constitution. This freedom is allowed to be used within the limits of the Constitution and the law. When PTI was in power, did you ever raise your voice about it?" did not I draw your attention to Human Rights Watch's annual World Report 2022.
He added that 'PTI was in power at that time. In this report, it is written that the government of Pakistan has intensified its efforts to control the media. It is written in the report that the PTI government is suppressing dissent. The report contains all the details of harassment, imprisonment and targeting of journalists, civil society and political opponents. The National Human Rights Commission was suspended during the PTI government. But there is an indictment, there is a record of PTI government's violations in several reports of international human rights organizations.
He added: 'PTI used NAB to wipe out political opponents during its tenure. Alas, as President of Pakistan, you never once raised your voice on any of these incidents. You as the president could have asked the government of that time about these violations of human rights, constitution and law.'
The Prime Minister said that in his letter, the President did not object to the aggressive behavior and style of the federal ministers of the former government. Ministers of the former government are constantly attacking the authority and credibility of the Election Commission.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Fawad Chaudhry, while commenting on the Prime Minister's reply to the President's letter, said that the President advised Shehbaz Sharif in his letter to follow the constitution. The press release will be seen.
Fawad Chaudhry said in one of his tweets that if the President's decision to dissolve the assembly and go for new elections had been followed, the country would not have been in this constitutional, political and economic vortex today and we would have been a stable democracy.
President Arif Alvi's letter to the Prime Minister
Two days ago, the President wrote a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and expressed his concern over the possible postponement of the elections and the arrests of Tehreek-e-Insaf members. In the letter, he emphasized to ensure the holding of elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and to stop house arrests of political workers.
President Dr. Arif Alvi wrote in his letter that in order to avoid further complications including contempt of court, the Prime Minister should instruct the relevant officials of the federal and provincial governments to assist the Election Commission for the elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at the appointed time. All concerned administrative authorities of federal and provincial governments should be directed to refrain from violating human rights.
Arif Alvi had written that on the dissolution of provincial assemblies under Article 105 or 112, elections must be held within 90 days under Article 224 (2). Ordered to recommend date The Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was also ordered to fix the date for holding the elections for the Provincial Assembly as per the time frame.