Daily Times

Three days after the President of Pakistan took to social media to take God as his witness and send shockwaves across the land with a denial of his said approval of changes to the Official Secrets Act, there appears no clarity as to why he caused this tempest and what he intends to do now. The air of mystery refuses to settle even though he has sent his secretary packing back to the Establishment Division. Meanwhile, the removed official refused to leave without a fight and called for an “inquiry” to establish his innocence in a scathing letter. With a startling disclosure, which was followed by a controversial removal of the principal secretary amid a hasty airing of dirty laundry, a major scandal has been caused at the highest constitutional office of the state. Until an inquiry is completed and the cat is fully let out of the bag, roaring speculations will continue. If the president of a functional, sovereign country is not immune to despicable acts like forgery, deception or under-the-table dealings, who on God’s green earth has the power or mandate to act independently? Ergo, a comprehensive investigation remains the only solution.

At this point, President Alvi is running out of options. He would have to come clean about why he took an unexplainable delay of over 24 hours to register his denial, that too, through a tweet from his personal handle. According to the norm, the unsigned bills are returned to the parliament accompanied by an observation note for further reconsideration and followed by a press release. Meanwhile, just as bizarre has been the fixation of the country’s legal fraternity as well as the state on the words “deemed assent” despite them not being applicable to the first round of parliamentary legislation’s trip to the presidency. The whole concept comes into play when any bill has been reevaluated and revised but still does not receive the anticipated seal. Failure to follow the usual protocols in continuation of a series of bizarre steps, the entire setup appears determined to not wait for the axe to fall anymore and make a dash towards the axe itself. Only time and the gavel of the higher judiciary will narrate what would become of this glaring violation, but until then, the authorities should think twice before adding to the confusion. We cannot afford to become a democratic joke one more time. *