Nawaz should return to Pakistan to face cases: President Alvi

ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi said on Friday that no one was afraid of any protest movement by the opposition, saying the protest movements are part of democracy as everyone has the right to hold peaceful protests, ARY News reported.

In an interview with ARY News program Aitraz Hai anchor Adil Abbasi, the president said that the government and opposition parties should keep in touch on political issues. He also slammed the opposition for defaming institutions.

“The way opposition is criticizing state institutions is shameful and condemnable. I am against all those who are trying to spread anarchy in Pakistan,” said Alvi and added that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was defaming institutions while sitting in London. He said that the government was trying to bring him back from the United Kingdom.

He asked the PML-N supreme leader to fulfill the promises he made with the court at the time of leaving the country on medical grounds.

“Nawaz told sickness as a major reason to left the country but what is the reason for coming back to Pakistan”? he asked, adding that the former prime minister should come back to Pakistan and face cases as Islamabad High Court (IHC) had also asked him to surrender before the court.

Speaking on coronavirus, President Arif Alvi lauded the efforts of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in the fight against Covid-19 and said that credit must be given to media, nation and religious scholars who had helped out the government in controlling the disease.

“Pakistan has largely controlled coronavirus but the disease still exists,” said Alvi and urged masses to wear masks, wash hands frequently and maintain social distancing to defeat the pandemic completely.

To a question, the President said state institutions are jointly working to curb corruption from the country and there should be indiscriminate accountability of corrupt elements.

Responding to a question about Karachi, he said both the federal and the provincial governments should join forces in addressing issues of the city. He said the Karachi package announced by the federal government will certainly contribute to resolving the problems of Pakistan’s biggest city.

Regarding rape cases in the country, the president called for exemplary punishments for rapists.