Country’s situation would worsen with the arrest of Imran Khan: President Alvi

ISLAMABAD, Feb 19 (SABAH): President Dr. Arif Alvi has said the Constitution of Pakistan is being abrogated on the pretext of seeking date for elections, so he had to write a letter.

In an interview with a private TV channel, President Dr. Arif Alvi said instead of finding loopholes in the Constitution it should be respected, advising the government not to create deadlock in conducting elections while setting the provisions of the constitution aside.

He sad it appeared that the country currently has not a coalition government but a technocrat setup that is getting some support from [unknown quarters].

In response to a question, Dr. Arif Alvi said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan should be questioned about the extension of retired general Qamar Javed Bajwa, adding he [Alvi] had no discussion with the sitting army chief about Imran Khan’s letters. The PTI chief also didn’t discuss with him the allegations against Asif Ali Zardari.

Dr. Arif Alvi cautioned that country’s situation would worsen with the arrest of Imran Khan. “I cannot take any action against the governors on the issue of delay in the election.”

Meanwhile Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan censured President Dr. Arif Alvi, asking him to respect his constitutional stature as he has nothing to do with the date for elections.

In a statement, Rana Sanaullah said President Dr. Arif Alvi should act as the president of Pakistan and not as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s spokesperson.

The PML-N leader stated that the former prime minister, prior to this, made the president, speaker, deputy speaker and governors do unconstitutional things.

He said Dr. Arif Alvi was intruding into the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) domain, regretting that Khan was pressurising the electoral body while using the office of the president. The minister said that President Alvi was an accomplice in PTI’s foreign funding case.