The government is considering impeaching President Arif Alvi for ‘violating the Constitution’ and will present a ‘solid case’ against him in the National Assembly shortly after Eid.
A Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA and barrister, Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha, stated that the government will be proceeding with its plan to impeach President Arif Alvi, by submitting notices regarding the two occasions where he violated the Constitution, according to a report by The Express Tribune.
The two occasions in question were the president’s decision to issue notices for the formation of the 10th National Finance Commission (NFC), and his decision to appoint two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) without consulting the parliamentary committee.
The barrister said that the violations had been confirmed by multiple high courts of the country, and since no more appeals had been filed, the courts’ decision had attained finality.
Ranjha also said that the president had a ‘track record of violating the Constitution’ which is why they are going forward with the impeachment. He added, “Previously, people would go scot-free for violating the Constitution but this time around, we will make sure it doesn’t happen.”
Laying down the process of the impeachment, the PML-N lawmaker said that the president will have to appear in parliament and answer questions, following which, if sufficient evidence of unconstitutional behavior is unearthed, the National Assembly speaker could either give a ruling, or frame a yes or no question presented to parliament.
The lawmaker stated that under Article 47 of the Constitution, the president could be removed on grounds of either physical or mental incapability, or on the basis of violation of the Constitution or other similar gross misconduct.
Policymakers and legal experts also say that former prime minister Imran Khan’s admission of his mistaken filing of a presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Esa could also be used as evidence in the impeachment of President Alvi.
