President Arif Alvi appreciates govt for starting probe into audio leaks

President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi has said that the government has done a good job by starting the investigation into the audio leaks, adding that if someone comes from outside, he must say what kind of people we are?. As the issue has raised the serious question about the security of national interests and their secrecy, he further said.

He said this while addressing the joint session of the parliament, presided over by National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. in Islamabad on Thursday.

Referring to the importance of the cyber world, he said, “We need to improve our policies in this regard to ensure cyber security of important institutions.”

President Alvi urged the political leadership to do away with political polarization and promote unity as espoused by the founding fathers to exploit the true potential of this great nation.

He said this is the election year but a decision regarding the election date has to be decided by the political parties through dialogue.

Regarding freedom of expression, he said an independent and free media is of utmost necessary for a vibrant democracy.

The president said that flood has proven how important insurance of crops is, adding that 19 times smaller countries than Pakistan are ahead in food and agriculture.

Referring to the losses inflicted by floods on the agriculture sector, he suggested a crop insurance scheme for the farmers to compensate for their losses.

He maintained that the flood has also given a lesson on how important it is to build dams, stressing the need for constructing dams to avert devastating floods in the country and storing water for use in difficult times.

He appreciated federal and provincial governments, NDMA, PDMAs and the armed forces for their timely response to the flood relief activities.

He expressed satisfaction over the international focus on the floods in Pakistan, saying the UN Secretary-General visited Pakistan to see the ground situation.

He observed that the way the government of Pakistan fought against Covid-19 and terrorism must be appreciated, adding that due to good planning, Pakistan suffered less losses than expected and succeeded to maintain its economic & business and religious & social activities.

The President said that special focus should be given to bring improvement in the health and education sectors.

The President was appreciative of the initiative taken by the Ehsaas programme and BISP to deal with the issue of malnutrition.

Earlier, during the speech of the President, most of the members of the government including PML-N and JUI-F  left the house as he refused to deliver the speech written by the government, so the members of the government walked out in protest. The PTI senators also boycotted the president’s speech.

Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Raja Riaz protested before the dais of President Arif Alvi.

Raja Riaz was of the view that the president on the advice of then prime minister Imran Khan dissolved this assembly and now, in what capacity he is addressing here. That was why they had not listened to his address.

During the speech, only 14 out of 442 members of parliament were present in the house to listen to the address, however, in the beginning, 33 members attended the session.

However, PTI disgruntled MNA Abdul Shakoor reached the house and attended the session. Senior armed forces leadership and foreign ambassadors were also present on the occasion.