Caretaker govt expresses concerns over President Alvi's tweet on bills issue

Federal Minister for Law Ahmed Irfan Aslam and Federal Minister for Information Murtaza Solangi expressed serious concerns over the claim of President Arif Alvi about the approval of two bills regarding the Official Secret Act and the Pakistan Army Act.

According to the 24News HD TV channel, Federal Minister for Law Ahmed Irfan Aslam and Federal Minister for Information Murtaza Solangi held a joint press conference in Islamabad on Sunday.

Addressing the media, Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi said there was no disturbance of any kind as the situation is very clear.

Minister Solangi said President Arif Alvi made a tweet from his personal Twitter account.

 Caretaker Law Minister Aslam Irfan Aslam said his caretaker government has no political agenda or mandate.

Irfan Aslam said he has no idea if the President will tender his resignation or not.
Law Minister Irfan Aslam said there is no precedent of sending back the bills without signing or observation to the assembly from the President in the history of Pakistan.

The law minister further stated that constitutionally, the President of Pakistan is bound to approve the bill sent by the parliament within 10 days after receiving it from the National Assembly.

Law Minister Irfan Aslam said the bill of the Official Secret Act was sent to President on Aug 8 and the other one related to the Pakistan Army Act was sent on Aug 2.
If the President will not sign the bill in 10 days, it will be constitutionally considered an Act, he added.

To a query, the Law Minister said it will be inappropriate that the officials of the President’s House to appear before the media and explain the matter of the Bills.

Minister Solangi told the media that they have no plan to take over the record of the President’s House.

Caretaker Law Minister said they have to confine themselves only to facts and law. He said the president did not send back both bills in 10 days and did also not record any observations about it despite the fact that the President could have recorded his observations in writing and sent them.

Earlier today, President Dr Arif Alvi claimed in his tweet that he did not sign the Official Secrets Amendment Bill, 2023 and the Pakistan Army Amendment Bill, 2023 as he disagreed with these laws.

President Alvi shared a post on the X platform (formerly Twitter) in which he wrote: “As God is my witness, I did not sign Official Secrets Amendment Bill 2023 & Pakistan Army Amendment Bill 2023 as I disagreed with these laws. I asked my staff to return the bills unsigned within stipulated time to make them ineffective. I confirmed from them many times that whether they have been returned & was assured that they were. However, I have found out today that my staff undermined my will and command. As Allah knows all, He will forgive IA. But I ask forgiveness from those who will be effected.”

https://twitter.com/ArifAlvi/status/1693182548644647341

Yesterday, it was reported that President Arif Alvi signed the Pakistan Army Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill, 2023 into law.

Both the bills, passed by the National Assembly and the Sindh, were forwarded to the president by the previous government of Shehbaz Sharif.

The development came days after reports that the president had declined to sign over a dozen bills and sent back to the parliament for review.

The changes in the Official Secrets Act and the Army Act will likely affect the PTI leaders and supporters who face a string of cases for their alleged involvement in the May 9 violence.

The FIA this week had registered a new case against PTI chairman under Section 5 of the Official Secrets Act. He is being accused of leaking the diplomatic cipher at the heart of PTI’s claims about a US conspiracy to oust Imran Khan’s government.

Since yesterday, several arrests have been made in Islamabad. PTI Vice President Shah Mehmood Qureshi, former federal minister Asad Umar, former Member of National Assembly Wazir Ali, and human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari have been arrested.