Extension or not: Other options if consensus on army courts eludes

PML-N confident govt will win over parties soon.

ISLAMABAD: Faced with the challenge of securing two-thirds majority in parliament to extend the tenure of military courts, the government has other options available in case its attempts to win parliamentary parties over fail to pan out.

According to knowledgeable ruling party circles, the PML-N government has the option to restore the Protection of Pakistan Act (PPA), 2014. “Consensus is key,” one of PML-N’s legal minds said. “But we have other options, just in case.”

In its present form, PPA – which lapsed last July – allows the setting of special courts, but not military courts, for a two-year period. With certain amendments, however, the act will allow those special courts to be assigned the functions of military courts, the ruling party insider said.



Speaking to The Express Tribune, constitutional expert and former ECP secretary Kanwar Dilshad confirmed that PPA could allow special courts to be assigned military court functions with certain amendments. He added that such a move would be ‘convenient’ for the government since restoring an act requires only simple majority, something the ruling party already has.

“But the government has options even beyond that,” Dilshad said. “It can impose a state of emergency through the president under article 234 of the constitution and create military courts. It’s an extreme step and unlikely to be taken, but is a last straw option for extreme cases,” he added.

PML-N sources believe consensus on military courts is likely to be reached in coming days. “The security establishment is strongly demanding the extension and the other parties know that. The opposition may initially oppose military courts to show itself as politically relevant, but everything will settle down eventually,” a ruling party insider said.



PML-N Chairman and Leader of the House in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq hoped that the government would succeed in forging consensus on military courts. “I think parliamentary consensus would help pave way for the constitutional amendment’s safe sailing from parliament. Things will not go to the point where the government will have to consider other options,” he said. On the apparent opposition to the extension by other parties, he said, “A few consultative rounds are required for parties to come together on the issue.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2017.