ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN: Pakistani President Arif Alvi, in an unprecedented turn of events, mentioned on Sunday that he did not sign the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill, 2023, blaming his office staff for defying his orders.
Alvi’s comments came a day after he agreed to the two bills on the microblogging site X, formerly known as Twitter. “As God is my witness, I did not sign Official Secrets Amendment Bill 2023 & Pakistan Army Amendment Bill 2023 as I disagreed with these laws,” President Alvi said,” president Alvi mentioned in his post.
“I asked my staff to return the bills unsigned within stipulated time to make them ineffective. I confirmed from them many times that whether they have been returned & was assured that they were,” he added.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-dnt=”true” align=”center”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>As God is my witness, I did not sign Official Secrets Amendment Bill 2023 & Pakistan Army Amendment Bill 2023 as I disagreed with these laws. I asked my staff to return the bills unsigned within stipulated time to make them ineffective. I confirmed from them many times that…</p>— Dr. Arif Alvi (@ArifAlvi) <a href=”https://twitter.com/ArifAlvi/status/1693182548644647341?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>August 20, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf also moved to SC as Press Alvi (from PTI) passed the statement.
On the other hand, The Ministry of Law and Justice passed a statement and showed their ‘grave concern’ over President Arif Alvi’s recent tweet.
Yesterday, On August 15, two PTI leaders, Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Imran Khan, were detained after the first information report (FIR) was filed against them under the Official Secrets Act for leaking the contents of the diplomatic cipher for political advantage.
It should be remembered that the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was forwarded to the president for approval on August 1 and received the next day on August 2.
Following that, the Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was sent to the president for approval on August 8 and was revived on the same day.
The president must show his consent to an authorized measure of the Parliament within ten days after its receipt, according to Article 75(1) of the Constitution.
“In the case of a Bill other than a Money Bill, return the Bill to the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) with a message requesting that the Bill or any specified provision thereof, be reconsidered and that any amendment specified in the message be considered,” read Article 75(1)(b) of the Constitution.
