President Alvi reaches Governor House Lahore without protocol

LAHORE: President Dr Arif Alvi who reached Lahore Friday on a two-day visit refused to step outside from the airport until the protocol given to him was sent away.

“My continuous struggle to keep security but reduce protocol that inconveniences people. Am at Lahore airport and there are 32 cars to escort me waiting outside. Will wait until they are sent away before I move out,” he tweeted.

However, later the president reached Governor House Lahore with just five cars where he met Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar.  

This is not the first time the president has spoken against the protocol given to him.

In September, the president was given a VIP protocol from the airport to his residence in Karachi despite his request to not be given a "huge protocol".

Alvi had taken to Twitter and said that he had only asked for two to four cars to accompany his. "The long chain of official cars following me is despite the fact that I asked all officials present at the airport not to embarrass me with a huge protocol and that one or two cars in front and one or two cars behind may satisfy their security needs. Did not happen. We have to try harder," he tweeted.

On his recent visit to Quetta, the president’s visit led to traffic jams in the city. Accompanied by Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed, MNA Faisal Vawda and the governors of Sindh and Balochistan, a convoy of over 30 vehicles left the airport in three phases leading to traffic delays on several roads including Airport Road and Zarghoon Road.