ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s new government is planning to impeach President Dr.Arif Alvi for not fulfilling his constitutional responsibilities ever sincethe ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan in a no-trust vote lastweek, a lawmaker of the ruling coalition said on Wednesday.
Shehbaz Sharif, a unanimous candidate of a ten-party opposition alliance,was elected as the country’s 23rd prime minister last Monday after thedismissal of Khan’s government.
The president did not administer oath to Sharif and his cabinet since hehad taken a sick leave, making Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani perform theconstitutional duty.
The government believes the president’s evasion of his constitutionalresponsibilities can constitute a reasonable ground for his impeachment.
“The president is not performing his constitutional duties. Therefore, wehave decided to impeach him,” Senator Afnan Ullah Khan of the rulingPakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party told Arab News.
According to the constitution, the president may be removed from office ongrounds of physical or mental incapacity or on a charge of violating theconstitution or gross misconduct. However, the resolution against him needsto be passed by two-thirds of the total parliamentary membership.
There are 442 lawmakers in both houses of parliament. With 342-memberNational Assembly and 100-member Senate, the two-thirds of parliament comesto 295 lawmakers.
Khan said the coalition government had 176 and 65 lawmakers in the NationalAssembly and Senate, respectively, adding this took the total number to 241in both houses which still kept it short of 54 members to impeach thepresident.
“We will have to make sustained effort to complete the required number,” hesaid, adding the ruling coalition would get support of about thirtydissident Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers.
“We may convince some PTI senators as well to be part of the impeachment,”he said while admitting that it would be a difficult task to achieve.
The undated photo shows Senator Afnan Ullah Khan of the ruling PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). (Photo courtesy: Senate of Pakistan’s website)
Khan hoped some PTI senators would support the move to impeach thepresident since the defection clause would not apply to them in this case.
According to the constitution, at least one-half of the total membership ofeither of the two houses of parliament can provide a written notice to theNational Assembly speaker regarding their intention to remove the presidentalong with the details of their charges against him.
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The speaker will then be bound to process the notice within three days ofits receipt and a copy of it will also be sent to the president.
The constitution says the speaker will summon the two houses to meet in ajoint sitting within seven to fourteen days after receiving the notice.
The joint sitting may investigate the charges against the president whosecures the right to be there and be represented during the proceedings.
“If, after consideration of the result of the investigation, if any, aresolution is passed at the joint sitting by the votes of not less thantwo-thirds of the total membership declaring that the President is unfit tohold the office due to incapacity or is guilty of violating theConstitution or of gross misconduct, the President shall cease to holdoffice immediately on the passing of the resolution,” says the constitution.
Legal experts say the president has the power to issue notificationsrelated to different key appointments and return summaries to federalcabinet with objections for review before their approval, adding thegovernment may find it necessary to remove him.
“If a coalition partner quits Shehbaz Sharif’s government for any reason,the president may ask the prime minister to take vote of confidence,”advocate Saad Rasool, who also hosts a TV talk show, told Arab News.
He said the prime minister had the authority to appoint officials in mostcases, though he had to send summaries to the president for approval.
“If the president is from a different party, like in the case of Dr. ArifAlvi, he may create a lot of issues and in some cases constitutional crisesfor the sitting government,” he continued.
Rasool said the president could return a summary to the cabinet within 15days and if the cabinet sent back the same summary again, the presidentwould be bound to approve it.
“This period of twenty, twenty-five days becomes crucial in some cases,” hesaid while referring to the recent removal of Punjab Governor Omar SarfarazCheema by the prime minister whom the president directed to continue withhis responsibilities.
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