ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi on Sunday said the clarification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice had removed the ambiguity created by a statement posted by President Dr Arif Alvi on his personal account on X (formerly known Twitter) regarding signing of two legislations.
“The President is head of the state, and his position demands respect. No one should expect that we would speak against the respect of the President,” said the information minister while addressing a news conference here.
Flanked by Caretaker Minister for Law and Justice Ahmed Irfan Aslam and Principal Information Officer Asim Khichi, the minister said there was no need for politicizing the caretaker government’s efforts, aimed at removing ambiguity on important matters.
He said the President had posted a statement on the X about the two bills, sent by the Parliament, which might have created some sort of confusion, but did not cause any upheaval.
However, it was imperative to remove confusion on the matter and the Law Ministry had issued a statement in this regard, he added.
To a query, Solangi said he did not have any knowledge about the President’s intentions and desires, particularly concerning his continuation in office. “Institutions existed in the country for enforcement of laws, and a complete system was in place to ensure provision of rights to citizens and uphold the supremacy of the Constitution and laws, the minister said in response to another question.
He stressed that the caretaker government was fully committed to upholding the constitution and would not engage in any actions that violated the laws.
With a clear understanding that their mandate is not political in nature, Murtaza said the caretaker government would refrain from engaging in any political discussions.
In case any attempt was made to create confusion on national issues, he said the response would be given which would strictly be adhered to the boundaries defined by the constitution and law.
‘Bills become law after no objection from president within ten-day’
Speaking on the occasion, Caretaker Minister for Law and Justice Ahmed Irfan Aslam said that under Article 75 of the Constitution, a bill automatically becomes law if the President didn’t approves or reject it within stipulated time period of ten days.
The law minister said that the caretaker government has no political agenda and its mandate was also limited. He said that being the head of the federation, the president is revered in all of our hearts.
He said that ‘The Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill 2023 was received by the presidency on August 2, while Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill reached there on August 8, after being passed by the two houses of the Parliament.
The caretaker law minister said that when a bill is sent to the President, he has two options: either to approve the bill or send it back to the Parliament with his observations in writing. There is no third option under Article 75 of the Constitution, he said, adding that ten days of time period is fixed in the Constitution to exercise one of these options.
Ahmed Irfan Aslam said that the President has exercised these powers many times in the recent and distant past. The President gave observations in many laws and also sent back bills to the Parliament, he said.
Before today, he said, no such situation has come before us that anything has returned from the presidency without the signatures of the President.
The law minister said that these two bills have not been received back from the President Office despite Article 75 of the Constitution clearly provides a period of ten days in order to avoid any political ambiguity. If the President does not exercise the authority within this time period, the bill is considered to be approved and automatically becomes law as per the constitution, he said.
