President’s Position On Official Secrets, Army Acts

Asem Mustafa Awan

Islamabad: President Dr Arif Alvi’s statement on X (formerly Twitter) of not signing the Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill and the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill has opened up a new Pandora’s box in the already complicated political situation in Pakistan.

The entire process has become suspicious, and comments about the president’s ability and his staff are questioned as to where the responsibility lies.

Legal and political analysts have different opinions about the bill as regards amendments to the Official Secrets Act and the Pakistan Army Act.

Experts believe that President Arif Alvi should have taken timely action against those involved in the alleged forgery. It also said that the President decided to use social media to state the ‘forgery’ claim after an unexplained delay of over 24 hours.

According to constitutional experts, Article 75 of the Constitution requires the President to write a note when returning bills to Parliament for reconsideration.

Read More:https://thepenpk.com/a-perpetual-cycle-of-power/

The legal experts suggest that the president initiate criminal proceedings against the subordinates who kept him in the dark despite repeatedly asking.

The President has a ‘powerful position’ due to the dissolution of the National Assembly. If they had returned the bills, they would have essentially abolished them because there was no National Assembly to pass them.

Interim Law Minister Ahmed Irfan Aslam and Information Minister Murtaza Solangi, in a joint press conference called after President Alvi’s shocking claims, denied any knowledge of the two recently passed bills, besides any knowledge of whether they have been returned or not.

Clarifying his legal and constitutional position on the two bills, the caretaker law minister said that the government has not received either of the two bills from the Presidency and thus both have become laws.

According to the Law Minister, ‘Under Article 75 of the Constitution, the President has only two options: either sign the bill or reject it. In the event of rejection, he must give reasons for returning the unsigned bills’.

According to the Law Minister, the President did not exercise these powers and the bills were pending in the House of Representatives which meant that they automatically became laws after 10 days.

More Read:https://thepenpk.com/self-accountability/

Experts who criticized the president’s tweet stated that President Arif Alvi took advantage of one of the two options but there is no precedent for blocking any bill by leaving it unsigned for ten days. There is no scope in the constitution to return bills without any observation or approval.

A few days before the dissolution of the assembly by the PDM government, the public expressed doubts about an array of bills sent hurriedly to become laws. Concerns were raised that the new legislation would restrict civil liberties and democracy.

This twist of events is viewed as a sign that the president probably thinks that the implementation of this law will be used to prosecute PTI leaders. The President of the State has written a letter to the Establishment Division to remove his principal secretary, expressing no confidence in his capabilities.

The Supreme Court has been approached to take up the matter but the nation goes from one constitutional chaos to another.

The writer is a journalist based in Islamabad and writes on a wide range of issues.

The article is the writer’s opinion, it may or may not adhere to the organization’s editorial policy.