Legislation on extension in Army Chief's tenure is of national interest: Firdous

PM Imran constitutes a committee to contact the opposition for consensus over the issue

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Saturday said that the issue of extension in the tenure of the army chief is of national interest.

While addressing the media, Firdous added that legislation on the extension would be made with consensus of all political parties in Parliament and the prime minister has constituted a committee to contact the opposition leaders for developing consensus over the issue.

The committee, she revealed, comprised of Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak and Leader of the House in Senate Syed Shibli Faraz.

The Supreme Court on Thursday gave the government six months to legislate and iron out the lacunae in the reappointment or extension of tenure of an army chief – paving the way for the incumbent, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, to stay on until a new law determined his terms of service.

A three-member bench of the apex court, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Mian Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, issued the verdict in the high-stake case following the state’s chief law officer submitted an undertaking to the court that parliament would bring in a new law on the matter within six months.

The ruling averted a crisis as the army chief was set to retire on the night between Thursday and Friday. On Tuesday, the court had suspended a notification issued by the prime minister in August for Gen Qamar’s reappointment till 2022 citing procedural loopholes.

A day after the SC verdict, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) showed signs of initiating dialogue with the opposition.

The Imran Khan-led government has asked the Parliament to review all existing laws related to the post of army chief and is determined to garner support from opposition parties.