Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Hours after the de-notification of the first-ever woman advocate general of Punjab, Asma Hamid, by the caretaker government, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Ashtar Ausaf Ali also resigned from his office on Wednesday.

In his resignation forwarded to President Mamnoon Hussain, he stated: “I believe that in the wake of imminent general elections, it would only be correct for me to tender my resignation from constitutional office, lest it be perceived by any party that my continued presence will impede the process of free and fair elections. The democratic transition, and its preservation, is a cornerstone of our constitution and our democracy.”

He requested the president to accept the resignation with immediate effect. Ashtar Ausaf is visiting London, however, his resignation was forwarded to the president by his office.

His appointment as the AGP took place on March 28, 2016. He was nominated by then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and appointed by President Mamnoon Hussian. Before his appointment as the attorney general, Ashtar Ausaf served as the adviser to the prime minister on law.

Ashtar Ausaf, a Lahore-based lawyer, earlier also served as the advocate general of Punjab. He came to prominence in 1993 when he represented then PML-N government in the Supreme Court after it was toppled and elected assemblies dissolved by former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan. Ashtar Ausaf was among the lawyers who spearheaded the movement for the restoration of independent judiciary in 2007. He was detained in Lahore when then president Pervez Musharraf proclaimed the state of emergency on November 3, 2007.

Published in Daily Times, June 21^st 2018.