Daily Times

The government on Wednesday passed a resolution in the National Assembly (NA) with majority to ‘condemn’ President Dr Arif Alvi for allegedly violating the Constitution by delaying and then rejecting the Prime Minister`s advice regarding the removal of the Punjab governor.

The resolution was tabled in the house which met under chairmanship of Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.

“According the oath of office of the President will not allow his personal interest to influence his official conducts or his official decisions. He is also bound to protect, preserve and defend the constitution,” reads the resolution.

The house, the resolution stated, strongly took exception to the “unconstitutional stance taken by the president and refusal to adhere to implement the constitution in letter and spirit and also to follow parliamentary democracy.”

The resolution was taken soon after the question hour was over and then the speaker given announced the point of order in which the majority of parliamentarians strongly condemned the President’s act. Later, the speaker sought the vote of lawmakers on the resolution which gained a majority to be passed.

The resolution stated that “the house calls upon the President to act in non-partisan manner and to perform his function strictly in accordance with article 48 of the constitution.” During the course of NA proceedings, the Attorney General of Pakistan also appeared in the house on the call of the Speaker to give his legal opinion over the matter. Who also termed the act of President Dr Alvi as “unconstitutional”.

While defining the law over the matter he informed the house “It is the pleasure of the federal government (Cabinet and Prime Minister) to appoint or remove the governor. Not only this, he clarified; it is the prerogative of the federal government to appoint or remove to any constitutional post.

The resolution stated that under the constitution of the country, obedience to the constitutional and law is an inviolable obligation of every citizen whenever he may be and of every other person for time being with Pakistan.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar clarified that a legal and constitutional procedure was followed to remove the Governor Punjab, adding that it was a parliamentary democracy and the President is bound to follow the advice of the Prime Minister under the constitution. Talking on the point of order, Fehmida Mirza of Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) suggested that the head of state has a constitutional status and has sanctity which should be kept intact on priority basis, adding that all the institutions including the judiciary, the armed forces and the Presidency should be respected. Moulana Akbar Chitrali said that “I behalf of my party, was never in favor of the presidential system in the country and always encouraged the parliamentary and democratic system under which citizens should be given their due constitutional rights.

The call for holding a debate on the president`s conduct and presenting the resolution against him initially came from former NA speaker Ayaz Sadiq.

He drew the attention of the house towards the removal of Punjab governor Omar Sarfaraz Cheema by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday night after rejection of his summary by the president and `condemned` Dr Alvi for allegedly violating Article 48 of the Constitution which made it binding on him to accept the prime minister`s advices.

He regretted that the President preferred his personal and political affiliations over the constitution, alleging that the President had also violated his oath according to which he was not allowed personal interests and influence while performing his constitutional duties.

Earlier, while responding to a question regarding the wheat procurement target of the country, Minister for Commerce Naveed Qamar National Assembly informed the house that the wheat procurement target set for the current season will be achieved by the end of June.

He maintained that the country is self-sufficient in wheat production but over the last two years, a shortfall has been witnessed due to various factors including non-availability of timely fertilizers to the farmers, climate change and shortage of water. He further said that the government has decided to import three million metric tons of wheat to meet domestic requirements, adding that it has also been decided to take firm action against hoarding and smuggling of the commodity.

The Minister for Commerce said modern silos will be established to ensure better preservation of wheat.