The President House has written to the principal secretary to the prime minister surrendering the services of the president’s secretary to the Establishment Division.
The letter states that the services of Waqar Ahmed, the secretary to the president, are no more required and surrendered to the Establishment Division, immediately.
It further suggests that a BPS-22 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service, Humaira Ahmed, may be posted as the secretary to the president.
The letter mentions that Waqar Ahmed’s services have been surrendered in view of President Arif Alvi’s statement on Sunday.
President Dr Arif Alvi denied that he signed the Official Secrets (Amendment) Act 2023 and the Army (Amendment) Act 2023 into law.
On Saturday, it was reported that the president had assented to the two amendment bills after their approval from the previous National Assembly as well as the Senate.
On Sunday, President Alvi took to X (formerly Twitter) and posted that he did not sign the bills, as he “disagreed” with them. He said he had asked his staff to return the bills unsigned within the stipulated time to make them ineffective.
However, he claimed, his staff undermined his command and never returned the bills, after which they automatically became laws.
“As Allah knows all, He will forgive IA. But I ask forgiveness from those who will be effected,” he tweeted.
Reacting to the president’s denial, former finance minister Ishaq Dar says “minimum morality” warrants Dr Alvi to resign for failing to run his office effectively.
