KARACHI: President Dr. Arif Alvi has departed for Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj at his own expense.
Earlier, there were reports that the president was leaving for Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj along with his family at the government’s expense.
Moreover, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani on Sunday assumed the charge of acting President as President Dr. Arif Alvi left for Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj.
According to a notification of the Cabinet Division, the Senate Chairman assumed his duties as the President in Quetta.
The development comes at a key time as the National Assembly passed the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2023, reducing the term of any lawmaker’s lifetime disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) to five years.
Through the new bill, the NA has approved key amendments in the Election Act 2017 whereby the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has been empowered to unilaterally announce election dates without the need to consult the president.
The law paves the way for self-exiled former premier and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, who was disqualified for life by the Supreme Court in 2018, to return to the country and enter electoral politics.
Similarly, the law allows former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Khan Tareen to enter electoral politics once again. Tareen, a sugar baron and now the chief of his own Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), had been disqualified by the Supreme Court in a similar manner.
With the PTI-allied Alvi out of the country, acting president Sanjrani — who is affiliated with the ruling PDM coalition — is likely to sign the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2023 into law soon.
