THE speech delivered by President Arif Alvi to the joint session of parliament on Aug 20 did not seem like an address of a head of the state. Rather it sounded more like a fiery speech of a party worker trying to defend his party. The address was rightly boycotted by the opposition.

I remember when late president Ghulam Ishaq Khan gave a speech at a joint session, one of the female lawmakers of PML-N, the opposition party at the time, threw her dupatta (head wear) at the speaker. It seems that our politics is so tainted with hate that nobody cares where the country is going.

President Alvi’s address should have spoken about the people groaning under galloping inflation, deteriorating economy, lack of employment and dangers faced by the country. It seems as a nation we are destined to put up with petty politics in what passes for democracy in our fair state.

Raja Shafaatullah
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2020