Arif Alvi should act as president instead of Imran Khan’s spox: Rana Sanaullah

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has criticised the president saying that Arif Alvi should act as a President of Pakistan instead of becoming the spokesperson of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, ARY News reported on Saturday.

In a Twitter thread, Rana Sanaullah alleged that Imran Khan had also forced the president, speaker, deputy speaker and the governor to commit a constitutional violation which was nullified by the Supreme Court (SC).

He asked the president to respect its position instead of replacing it with the position of a political party’s spokesperson.

READ: PRESIDENT ALVI URGES STAKEHOLDERS TO SIT TOGETHER TO ‘RESOLVE CRISIS’

Sanaullah claimed that the president has no connection with the announcement of the election date and he is interfering in the constitutional jurisdiction of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). He further said that Arif Alvi was also a co-accused in the foreign funding case.

The interior minister alleged that the PTI chief is trying to pressurise the ECP by president.

عارف علوی صدر پاکستان بنیں، عمران کے ترجمان نہ بنیں، صدر کے منصب کی عزت کا پاس کریں۔ پہلے بھی عمران خان نے صدر، سپیکر، ڈپٹی سپیکر اور گورنر سے آئینی شکنی کرائی، سپریم کورٹ نے اس عمل کو آئین شکنی قرار دیا تھا۔ صدر کے آئینی منصب کو پارٹی ترجمان کے عہدہ میں بدلنا افسوسناک ہے۔

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— Rana SanaUllah Khan (@RanaSanaullahPK) February 18, 2023

On Friday, President Arif Alvi invited Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja for an urgent meeting on general elections. The invitation was sent to consult on elections under Section 57(1) of the Elections Act, 2017.

READ: ECP EXPRESSES CONCERNS OVER PRESIDENT ALVI’S ‘CHOICE OF WORDS’

The letter stated that the election date or dates will be announced after consultation with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

President Arif Alvi expressed displeasure over the behaviour and inaction of ECP. He also mentioned that the ECP didn’t respond to his earlier letter as yet.

The letter further stated that the president has waited that the Commission would realize its constitutional duties to proceed and act accordingly, but he was extremely disappointed by ECP’s approach regarding elections.

Earlier, President Arif Alvi asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to immediately issue the election schedule for Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assemblies.