ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Saturday returned back two bills to the Prime Minister for reconsideration and detailed deliberation by the parliament and its committee concerned.
The bills returned by the President pertained to the amendments in the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and i-voting for overseas Pakistanis and clipping the vast powers of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The two bills were passed by the National Assembly and the Senate in May. After their approval from both Houses of the Parliament, only the assent of the President was required for them to become law.
Returning back both the bills, the President stated that they had violated Article 46 of the Constitution, according to which the prime minister “shall keep the president informed on all matters of internal and foreign policy and on all legislative proposals the federal government intends to bring before Majlis-e-Shoora (parliament)”. A statement of the President Secretariat said that the President was not informed about the legislative proposals before bringing the bills to parliament.