Shehbaz demands inquiry over president’s statement on bills signing

LONDON: Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has demanded an inquiry into the statement of President Dr Arif Alvi regarding the signing of two bills.

The PML-N President was speaking to reporters as he arrived Avenfield House to meet his brother and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif to discuss the political situation in the country.

Shehbaz Sharif said there should be an inquiry into the statement made by the president. He said the matter will be crystal clear if there is a transparent inquiry.

He said the President also signs the bill which he checks and no verbal instructions are given. He said person sitting on the highest constitutional office of Pakistan should not give verbal order.

“Why did the president wait for so long? This is a question mark,” he asked. “This matter is not so easy, the president will have to answer,”

President Alvi stirred a controversy after denying personally signing two pieces of legislation – Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill 2023 and the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill 2023 — a day after they became acts of parliament.

Both the bills were approved by the Senate and National Assembly and sent to the president for his approval amid criticism by opposition lawmakers a few weeks ago.

President Alvi pointed the finger at his staff, saying he was duped by the presidency staff who did not return the said “unsigned” bills despite repeated his directives.

“As God is my witness, I did not sign Official Sec­rets Amendment Bill, 2023 and Pakistan Army Ame­ndment Bill, 2023 as I disagreed with these laws,” the president had said in his tweet.

He claimed he had asked his staff to return the bills unsigned within the stipulated time to make them “ineffective”, but his staff did not do so and lied that the bills had been returned.

“I confirmed from them many times whether they [the bills] have been returned and was assured that they were. However, I have found out today that my staff undermined my will and command. As Allah knows all, He will forgive Insha’Allah. But I ask forgiveness from those who will be affected,” the president had written on X.

Hours after President Alvi’s statement, a gazette notification issued by the Senate Secretariat surfaced, stating that the two bills were “deemed to have been assented by the president”.