President Dr Arif Alvi refused to sign the bills seeking amendments in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and election laws.

The bill has been returned back to Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif as the president said he “was not informed” about the “legislative proposal” under Article 46 before they were tabled in parliament.

Last week, the National Assembly (NA) passed bills to scrap election reforms giving overseas Pakistanis the right to vote through i-Voting and electronic voting machines (EVMs), as well as the NAB laws, done during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) tenure in power.

A press release issued by the president’s office said that Article 46 was violated as he was not informed about the legislative proposals before they were brought before parliament. Article 46 states that “the prime minister shall keep the president informed on all legislative proposals the federal government intends to bring before Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)”.