Ex-Pak Prez Alvi advises Pakistanis to 'reset, alt-del & restart' to change their destiny

Islamabad: The people of Pakistan must "reset, alt-del and restart" to change their destiny, former president Arif Alvi has said, asserting that the "poor but hardworking" nation, polarised by political differences, deserves better.

Alvi, Pakistan's president from 2018 to March 2024, took to social media platform X on Thursday to criticise the cash-strapped country's current state of affairs.

"The argument by some that it has happened before and others have also done the same is no justification to continue on this path, as it is retrogressive thinking with no way forward," the 74-year-old leader said.

"To change our destiny is to Re-Think, Reset, Alt-Del, Clean the slate, Re-Start," he said.

"Who will do it? Who can do it? Is it even possible? I think it is, as we have the potential, and this poor but hardworking nation certainly deserves better," the dentist-turned-politician said.

Bashing the deterioration of Pakistan's economy, politics and judiciary, he said that there is severe stress on the country's institutions, which are being forced to take partisan positions.

Asserting that the country's economy needs political stability, which the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other global institutions have pointed out, he said, "FDI (foreign direct investment) without local investment will also be an elusive dream." Alvi, who is a close aide of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and a senior leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party before becoming the president in 2018, said that a "total political farce is being perpetrated in the Parliament with a stolen mandate." Khan and his party have repeatedly said that the outcome of the February 8 general elections was rigged and that the powerful Army favoured the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to assume power. The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has claimed that his party's mandate had been stolen and “efforts were being made to take over the party”.

Though PTI-backed independent candidates won more seats in the National Assembly, a post-poll alliance between PML-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) allowed them to form a government under the leadership of PML-N party president Shehbaz Sharif.

Alvi also took a dig at the judiciary. He said that the "judiciary hopefully is going through some forced introspection" but claimed that the response in the delivery of justice is "too slow and partial".

"Politicians, workers, including women, are languishing in jail, in case after 'crooked' case," he said, adding that brutal actions against innocents are "extremely and disgustingly common," Alvi said, apparently referring to supporters of Khan who are in jail following the unprecedented protests on May 9, 2023, following the arrest of Khan in a corruption case.