President Dr. Arif Alvi has also asked Prime Minister that being head of the government, it is his responsible to ensure implementation of the apex court’s orders regarding elections in Punjab and KPK, and pointed out glare violations of the human and fundamental rights in the country.
ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-March 24th, 2023) President Dr. Arif alvi asked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to implement the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan regarding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakthunkhwa.
The President also said that the implementation of the Supreme Court would help in avoiding further complications.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, President said that Prime Minister being head of the government was responsible to ensure protection of the fundamental and human rights in the country.
The development took place two days after the Election Commission of Pakistan postponed Punjab elections from April 30 to Oct 8 and cited security risks as the main reason behind its decision.
President Alvi asked the PM to direct the relevant authorities in Federal as well as in the provinces to assist the Election Commission in conducting elections in Punjab and KPK.
He said that the authorities concerned in the federal and the provincial governments should stay away from abuse of human rights. He also asked them to provide assistance to the ECP in holding general elections in Punjab and KP within the time frame under the law.
The top court on March 1 had rendered a judgement that the Punjab and KPK elections should be held within 90 days as per the law, and gave permission to the ECP to propose a poll date that deviaes from he 90-day deadline by the barest minimum in case of any difficult in this regard.
He further mentioned that ECP did not implement its earlier announcement of April 30 and had openly violated the orders of the apex court. He cited Article 46 of the Constitution which says the prime minister will keep the president informed on all policy matters and legislative proposals by the federal government.
Alvi also said that the executive authorities and government departments committed a clear violation of the Constitution despite that they are bound under Article 220 of the Constitution.
The president also mentioned that it was a matter of concern that no meaningful consultation with the president on policy issues was undertaken by the prime minister in line with the above article.
Moreover, President Alvi also brought PM Shehbaz’s attention to recent events where “open violations of fundamental and human rights” were committed, and asked him to take remedial measures and preventive actions.
He regretted that Pakistan appeared 12 points down in the World Press Freedom Index 2022 to 157 out of 180 countries, adding that it reflected the country’s “sorry state of affairs”.
He said that “this year’s actions and images thereof will further exacerbate our already dismal ranking.”
“In recent months, media has been further suppressed and journalists have also been subjected to charges of sedition and terrorism to stifle dissent and criticism against the government. It appears that a reign of terror has been unleashed against the media persons who have independent opinions,” the president said.
