The government and opposition members took the twitter and traded barbs over return of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023 to the Parliament by President Dr Arif Alvi on Saturday.
President Arif Alvi has returned to parliament a bill which aimed at limited the powers of the chief justice of Pakistan regarding suo motu cases and constitution of benches.
Climate Change Minister Senator Sherry Rehman reacted to the move and lashed out the President for toeing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) line.
“By returning the Supreme Court bill (to the parliament) for review, President Arif Alvi has proved that he is not the country’s president but the PTI’s secretary general even now,” she said in a series of tweets.
Saying that Alvi had looked at “parliament’s every decision with the perspective of the PTI”, Rehman highlighted that he had already stated his stance on the matter in an interview before even receiving the said bill.
“He is following his party’s policy, not his constitutional role as the president,” she added.
“The president is saying that this bill is outside the parliament’s authority? He kept running the President House like an ordinance factory for three and a half years — how can he be aware of the parliament’s powers? President, do not teach the parliament legislation,” she said.
صدر عارف علوی نے سپریم کورٹ بل نظرثانی کیلئے واپس بھیج کر ثابت کر دیا وہ ملک کے صدر نہیں بلکہ ابھی بھی تحریک انصاف کے سیکرٹری جنرل ہیں۔ انہوں نے پارلیمنٹ کے ہر فیصلے کو تحریک انصاف کی نظر سے دیکھا ہے۔ بل موصول ہونے سے پہلے ہی وہ ایک انٹرویو میں اس پر اپنا موقف دے چکے تھے۔ 1/2
— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) April 8, 2023
PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry was quick to react the government’s criticism and asked its members to “take a breath [and] think” instead of trying to amend laws upon a “few people’s wishes”.
“The government should not make legislation subordinate to a few people’s wishes. After attempts to amend the Supreme Court rules, decreasing the president’s powers by amending the Elections Act (2017) is foolish legislation.”
Addressing the government, he said, “You should take a breath [to] think and make amendments in your politics. No one will accept amendments [made] in such a hurry.”
حکومت قانون سازی کو چند لوگوں کی خواہش کے تابع نہ کرے، سپریم کورٹ کے رولز میں ترامیم کی کوششش کے بعد اب الیکشن ایکٹ میں ترمیم کے ذریعے صدر مملکت کے اختیارات میں کمی احمقانہ قانون سازی ہے۔ آپ سانس لیں سوچیں اور اپنی سیاست میں ترمیم کریں ایسی جلدی میں ترامیم کوئ نہیں مانے گا
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) April 8, 2023
