ISLAMABAD
: Pakistan president Arif Alvi continues in office due to the lack of an electoral college to elect a successor despite the completion of his five-year term on September 9.
A founding member of the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and a dentist by profession, Alvi was elected following general elections in 2018 that saw his party chief taking charge as PM for the first time.
As president, Alvi had served PTI well by promulgating ordinances and helping Imran run the government. Following the removal of Imran as PM through a no-confidence vote in April 2022, Alvi did not change his loyalty to PTI and dedicated himself mostly to the cause of upholding his party’s interests. He had avoided giving assent to any bill which he deemed against the interest of his party.
According to legal experts, Alvi can continue in office till the formation of the electoral college after the next general election and the voting in of his successor. Pakistan’s president is elected through by lawmakers of the National Assembly, Senate and provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
If Alvi were to leave before, he will be succeeded by Senate chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, who will stay till a new president is elected. In that event, the two key offices of the President and PM will be from the pro-military Balochistan Awami Party, which was an ally of Imran’s PTI when he was Prime Minister.
Two other key figures also completed their tenures this month -- Pakistan chief justice Umar Ata Bandial and ISI chief Lt General Nadeem Anjum.
Justice Bandial, accused by the previous Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government of being biased, would doff his robe this Saturday.
Ahead of retirement, Justice Bandial is expected to announce two important verdicts related to changes by the Shehbaz government -- in the accountability law, Official Secrets Act, 1923, and the Army Act.
While changes in accountability law had provided immunity to politicians, including top Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party leaders, amendments to the Official Secrets Act and Army Act paved the way for trial of civilians in military courts.
The outgoing Chief Justice would be succeeded by Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the senior puisne judge of the apex court who had not been included on any bench under Bandial, on September 16.
Lt-Gen Anjum, the ISI chief considered close to the former three-time PM Nawaz, completes his four-year term as three-star general this month. Lt-Gen Anjum’s tenure as head of the ISI has been marked by sharp increase in the army’s harassment of media voices critical to the Shehbazgovernmentand the military leadership.
There are conflicting reports about whether Lt-Gen Anjum will get an extension or will retire on schedule.