Zubair Qureshi Islamabad
President Dr Arif Alvi has forwarded Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif a letter of ex-Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Ahmed asking him to look into the issues raised by the former minister who raised serious questions on the validity and legality of the caretaker setup in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab and argued it could not last beyond 90 days.
The president in his letter has asked the PM to uphold the Constitution and strengthen democracy in the country.
Chaudhry Fawad, three days ago, in a letter addressed to the President had raised the matter and questioned the legality of the interim setups in the two provinces of the country. He had said that the interim governments in Punjab and KP had completed their stipulated period and the Constitution did not provide for the continuation /extension of the period fixed for the interim set up. He had further stated that caretaker governments were introduced as per Article 224 of the Constitution to facilitate the Election Commission of Pakistan in holding free, fair, just, and honest elections in accordance with the Constitution and the law.
In his letter, President Dr Arif Alvi has asked the Prime Minister, Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, to examine this matter to ensure the upholding the Constitution and strengthening of democracy in Pakistan.
Chaudhry Fawad a couple of days earlier, had asserted that the caretaker setups in Punjab and the KP should have ceased to function as they had spent their life-time. The PTI leader had asked the president to refer the matter of the interim government’s term completion to the country’s top court, adding that they have been involved in making major policy decisions to affect the conduct of polls in the two provinces which have been ordered by the apex court.
