‘President’s job is to praise the govt’

This is in reference to a letter to the Editor. The writer of the letter, Samina Mubashir, has stated that “his [President’s] speech lacked objectivity, to say the least. ... Unfortunately, however, his address to a joint sitting of parliament was found to be hardly different from his predecessor Mamnoon Husain’s of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. The late Mamnoon Husain, too, was always all praise for the PML-N government.”

I want to make a point: the writer perhaps has overlooked the fact that the position of President of Pakistan is only ceremonial; he has no executive authority. Here laws are made by majority vote of the legislature and signed by the head of state, the President, who can return a bill to the parliament to signify disagreement with it. But parliament can override his disagreement or ‘veto. In other words, President Alvi, too, knows his limitations well.

Hameeda Nizamani (Hyderabad)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021