Alvi dismisses
Writing to PMO, the President’s Secretariat requests Humaira Ahmed to take the role of Waqar Ahmed.
The President’s Secretariat informed the principal secretary to the prime minister on Monday that the services of the serving secretary to the president were no longer needed, a day after President Dr. Arif Alvi’s shocking revelation regarding the signing of the Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill and the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill.
The President’s Secretariat issued a statement reading, “The services of Mr. Waqar Ahmed, Secretary to the President, are no longer required and are surrendered to the Establishment Division, immediately.”
The statement went on to say that Ms. Humaira Ahmed, a BPS-22 officer with the Pakistan Administrative Service, should be appointed secretary to the president.
On Sunday, President Alvi caused a commotion by denying having signed the Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill and the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, and blaming his staff for the error. The country descended into anarchy as a result of this disclosure.
The president fiercely denied endorsing the two laws in a social media post. But he acknowledged that his team had failed to deliver the measures to the legislature within the allotted 10-day period required by Article 75 of the Constitution.
He said that in addition to lying to him, his staff also undermined his authority by keeping quiet about the unpaid bills.
Alvi claimed that he learned on Sunday that the invoices had not been returned within the allotted time period, and he added that he had repeatedly asked his staff about this and always received the response that the bills had indeed been returned.
Waqar Ahmed, however, wrote a letter to the president shortly after the president declared that he no longer required the services of his secretary, outlining the pertinent details regarding the two bills and pleading with the president to reverse his order that the secretary’s services be returned to the Establishment Division.
Ahmed further suggested in the letter that the incident might be looked into by the Federal investigating Agency (FIA) or another investigating agency in order to assign blame to any implicated officials.
According to Ahmed’s letter, he got the army and secrets legislation on August 2 and August 8, respectively, and delivered them to the president on August 11 and 17, respectively, along with the file, diary number, and a note stating the deadlines.
Both of the legislation were still at the president’s office as of August 21. According to Ahmed, neither the president approved the bills nor issued any written directives ordering their return to parliament.
Ahmed said that the president erred in deciding to transfer his services back to the Establishment Division because he neither erred nor delayed the situation.
He said that the president was aware that he had not erred and that if any court called him, he could produce the record to demonstrate his innocence.
You are aware of all the information regarding the two bills described above, and in truth, neither I nor the Honorable President have been harmed by the delay. I am able to make a statement under oath.
The caretaker administration had justified the passage of the bills, asserting that they were made into law when the 10-day window for presidential assent expired.
Shortly after President Arif Alvi denied that he gave his consent to the two significant pieces of legislation, caretaker law minister Ahmad Irfan Aslam and caretaker information minister Murtaza Solangi spoke at a joint press conference on Monday.
According to Aslam at the press conference, “the president had the option to raise objections to the bills within the specified timeframe, but he chose not to, resulting in the automatic enactment of the bills into law.”
He said that the Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill reached the president on August 8, while the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill arrived at the Presidency on August 2.
“After receiving the bills, the president only had two options: approve the bills or send them back with reservations. There is no third choice, and if the legislation are not returned, they immediately become law after ten days,” he continued.
