PPP demands President Arif Alvi’s resignation

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has chargesheeted President Dr Arif Alvi over alleged continuing violations the country’s Constitution and has asked him to voluntarily resign after release of the recent detailed judgement by the Supreme Court in the Justice Qazi Faez Isa case.

“I was expecting that after the release of (SC) judgment, the President would himself resign. However, now a week is about to be over, but the President has not yet resigned. Therefore, keeping in view all the circumstances, it will be appropriate for the President to resign in the light of the findings of the detailed reasoning by the SC,” said PPP Senator Raza Rabbani while speaking at a news conference.

The Senator said that the resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the removal of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government was on the list of the demands of the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), and “now the President’s resignation has also been included in the list”.

With regard to moving an impeachment movement against Dr Alvi, Rabbani said that it would be decided by the PDM leadership.

The Senator further expressed that the PDM’s special committee would meet soon and devise a strategy as to how to raise the demand for the President’s resignation and what strategy they should adopt for it.

While reading out the excerpts from the Supreme Court’s detailed judgment in the Justice Isa case, the Senator said that there was a “clear conflict of interest” in the process stating that “the President had discussed the reference and its legal aspects with the attorney general and the law minister who was admittedly involved in the framing of the reference”.

He said that the court had declared that it was not appropriate for the President to make his opinion on the basis of consultations with the architects of the reference and added that under Article 48 (1) of the Constitution, “the president has the power to return the advice by the Prime Minister or the cabinet for reconsideration”, but he didn’t do it.