'Ready to face Article 6 trial', Alvi tells opponents after leaving presidency

KARACHI: Former president Dr Arif Alvi has said that he is ready to face legal proceedings if his opponents want to file a case against him under Article 6 of the Constitution over alleged constitutional violations. 

Demands of a high treason case against Alvi under Article 6 have been raised on multiple instances — such as the dissolution of the National Assembly on the advice of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan, who then served as the prime minister; and a recent case of not summoning the first session of the upper house of parliament after the general election 2024.

The ex-president, who handed over the charge to newly sworn-in President Asif Ali Zardari, vacated the presidential palace and flew back to Karachi Sunday evening, where he addressed a press conference at his residence.

“Conduct a case under Article 6 against me if they want. Those levelling allegations of unconstitutional actions [against Alvi] can go to the courts,” the former president said while speaking to journalists.

He said that the majority of the court decisions didn’t mention Article 6.

“I stood fast on accountability and democratic values,” he said, adding that he also held on to the principles of his party, PTI, which was opposing corruption culture in the country.

“I adhered to the Constitution and did what was appropriate,” he insisted.

Alvi went on to say that he was adamant about getting the decision on reserved seats of the assembly done before calling the NA session.

Referring to the dissolution of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, the second legislative under the PTI government to be disbanded last year, Alvi said that he had advised against leaving the KP assembly.

The ex-president said that his role as the president has been to make efforts to eliminate differences.

Speaking about the PTI founder, Alvi said that he and Khan were of the view that the reference against now Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa shouldn’t have been filed.

He heaped praise on the former prime minister, saying that Khan was and will always be his leader who was removed from power via a parliamentary vote in April 2022. “I have never seen such an honest man. No one has such a quality to unite the nation. There is no leader like PTI founder.”

The former president told the journalists that he has asked his lawyers to file a plea seeking permission for him to meet Khan, who remains incarcerated in Rawalpindi's Adiala jail.

He then called for the investigations into May 9 incidents of violence and urged politicians and the establishment to play a role in uniting the country. He also called for recognising the PTI and the mandate that has been given to it in the last month held general election.