Daily Times

Following Aleema Khan’s claim that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Imran Khan is “disappointed” with President Arif Alvi over his failure to uphold constitutional duties regarding elections, the Presidency issued a clarification on Wednesday.

When she revealed that “Khan is upset with Arif Alvi for not announcing the election date,” the sister of the PTI leader dropped a bombshell on Alvi.

Aleema allegedly stated that Imran is saddened by the fact that the election date has not been announced while speaking to reporters outside the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore.

She went on to say that President Alvi ought to have defended human rights.

In response, the Aiwan-e-Sadar expressed President Alvi’s viewpoint and the letter he wrote to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on September 6 requesting the holding of general elections before November 6 (on the 89th day after the dissolution of the National Assembly), citing constitutional provisions which mandated the holding of elections within 90 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly.

A spokesperson for the President House reminded that “President Dr Arif Alvi wants elections to be held on time to provide opportunities to all political parties for participating in the political process. The President of Pakistan, in his letter to the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan on 6th September 2023, had already conveyed to the ECP that Article 48(5) of the Constitution empowered him to appoint a date for elections not later than 90 days from the date of the dissolution for the holding of General Election to the National Assembly. In the said letter, the president had also communicated that the General Elections to the National Assembly should be held by 6th of November 2023.”

The spokesperson said the president wants the democratic process to continue and further strengthen.

“Exclusion of any political party from the election process would be unfair to the spirit of democracy,” the statement added and recalled that Alvi strongly supports political dialogue and the promotion of national unity to overcome the challenges being faced by the country.

According to sources, Alvi is also disappointed that none of his party colleagues have spoken up for him or supported him when he has faced criticism.