Extension tension

Amendments granting legal cover to extensions in service tenure given to the chiefs of the three military branches have sailed through both houses of Parliament, as the upper house approved the bills after a majority vote on Wednesday.

A day earlier, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak tabled amendments to the Pakistan Army Act, Pakistan Air Force Act, and Pakistan Navy Ordinance a day after the related bills were approved by the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Defence.

One of the last spanners was removed from the works on Tuesday after Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Naveed Qamar told the house that the party was withdrawing its recommendations and would support the bills “as is”, given the prevailing national and regional security situation.

Although there was unanimity among the major parties about the need to pass the bill, more than a few conclusions could also be drawn by the absence of senior opposition figures. PPP Chief Bilawal Bhutto and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders such as former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi were nowhere to be seen. Reports later emerged that some PTI leaders had met with Bilawal in his NA office to convince him to withdraw his party’s objections. Some reports, however, suggested that opposition objections were primarily over the haste with which the bills were passed, rather than their contents. Even PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif had previously urged for parliamentary procedure to be followed.

The sense of urgency around the bills could be gauged by the fact that the bills were referred to the Senate Defence Committee the same day as they were passed by the NA. The Senate panel approved the bills within a few hours.

While it is a good sign that the ruckus over the bills is finally over, a court challenge could still renew the issue. This is because the language inserted to avoid future court challenges to extensions would still, ironically, need to be challenged in court to confirm if it can actually be interpreted as “water-tight” while complying with other laws.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2020.

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