Two controversial bills further enhancing the power of the military were denied approval by Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi.

On Sunday, he posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) that his staff undermined his decision to return the bills unsigned.

Military intelligence officers’ identities are protected by both laws, and defaming the army is punishable by jail terms.

The legality of the two laws may be questioned by Mr Alvi’s statement.

Ahmed Irfan Aslam, Pakistan’s interim law minister, told reporters that under the constitution, the president had the option to either assent to the bills or refer them to parliament with “specific observations.”

It was instead Dr Alvi who “purposefully delayed the assent”, returning the bills without a response or observations, he said.

Since the signed bills were not received by the president even after 10 days, they automatically became law.

The Senate Secretariat stated that they had been “deemed assent to by the president”.

President Alvi received the disputed bills before parliament dissolved on 9 August in preparation for elections in November.

Before voting can be held, electoral boundaries must be redrawn to reflect fresh census data, a months-long process, according to the electoral commission.

There is currently a caretaker government in place in the country.

Any individual who discloses the identity of an intelligence official, informant or source is subject to a three-year jail term and a fine of up to 10 million rupees (£27,500 ; $34,000) under the former bill, while anyone who discloses sensitive information pertaining to national security faces a five-year prison sentence.

It was criticized by both the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the coalition partners of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) for passing “draconian laws” in a hurry.

In some cases, the laws have already been used to arrest opposition members. Shah Mehmood Qureshi, vice chair of the PTI, was arrested over the weekend under the Official Secrets Act.

According to the PTI, Mr Qureshi was detained because he challenged the postponement of the election in a press conference. An investigation has been launched against him for the alleged leak of a secret diplomatic cable.

The PTI has also declared its support for the president and said it will take the disputed bills to the Supreme Court.