ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi in an interview with a private television channel rejected the possibility of holding an online session of the Parliament, said that there is no problem if the session is held with social distancing.

However, when asked if the rules of procedure could allow the holding of an on-line session, the president said, “Rules can be changed.” He said personally he was in favour of digitization and recalled when he was Member of the National Assembly he had proposed to digitize the Parliament in a way that all its members were enabled to have online access to all documents relating to legislation and other business.

About his recent meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan and the inquiry report on IPPs (Independent Power Producers), Dr Alvi said the report was unilateral and did not comprise input of the stakeholders.

He said as the IPPs were established as a result of the energy policies and agreements reached in 1994, 2002 and 2014, the government would have to deal with the issue carefully and keeping in view the past experiences such as the Reko Diq.

About the human rights situation in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK) and the ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC), President Alvi said the Indian forces were targeting innocent civilians.

He said if the forensic audit verified the inquiry report on IPPs, it would help the government to proceed against the companies involved in actions beyond the agreement, besides creating an opportunity for renegotiation on terms and conditions of the agreements with them.

To a question about the inquiry report on sugar and wheat shortage, and the alleged involvement of some political figures, the president said as far as he knew Prime Minister Imran Khan, he had a strong will to deal with such situations.