It came into force the day before, but President Alvi has made clear he is not prepared to put his seal on PM Sharif’s NAB law amendment.
By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has returned the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2022 unsigned to the prime minister’s office, his Secretariat said Monday, referring to a bill that became enacted as a law a day before.
A statement put out by the President’s Secretariat said Alvi had conveyed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif his belief “that the bill, as passed by the parliament, is regressive in nature, and it will promote corruption by ensuring that the long arm of the law is crippled.”
The President’s refusal to sign a bill cannot block it from becoming a law. At the most, it can delay its promulgation by a few days.
In Pakistan’s Westminster-style democracy, the president signing a bill before it becomes a law is a ceremonial constitutional ritual. As a matter of fact, being the Pakistani counterpart of the United Kingdom’s Crown, the office of the President of Pakistani is itself ceremonial.
Dr Alvi first returned the NAB amendment bill – along with two electoral reform bills – to PM Sharif for reconsideration on June 4. The government of Pakistan Democratic Front (PDM) coalition then tabled the bills at a joint sitting of the National Assembly and Senate on June 9, which promptly passed them.
A bill passed by a joint sitting is presented to the president for his assent, but automatically becomes enacted into a law on the 10th day of its passing the parliament if the incumbent fails to grant his approval.
But that reckoning, the bill the President’s Secretariat is referring to became National Accountability (Amendment) Act, 2022 on June 19, 2022.
Alvi was put in the presidency by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chair Imran Khan, and he seems intent to hew to party line even after the former prime minister’s ouster.
The statement issued by his Secretariat quotes Alvi parading the usual PTI talking points of corruption and inequality before justice, infused with a rather heavy dose of “Islamic touch”, painstakingly sanctifying presumption of guilt as an Islamic precept.
“The President reiterated that he personally follows, upholds and abides by the Constitution of Pakistan”, the statement said. “We must act upon the injunctions of the Quran and Sunnah, and above all, I am answerable to Allah and ask for His forgiveness. Therefore, he painfully states, that my conscience does not allow me to sign this Bill”.
Pakistani law and tradition requires the President to rise above all party, ethnic, or ideological divides and act in good faith at all times as the ceremonial head of the state. This means the President has no political or moral authority to act the way he is acting.
While some may choose to lionise Alvi for his loyalty to his leader or party, his conduct can only be called unpresidential under Pakistani law and tradition.
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