ISLAMABAD: The Senate and the National Assembly Standing Committees on Defence Friday passed by consensus all the three proposed legislations concerning extension or re-appointment of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) and the three services chiefs for three years.
The defence committees of the two Houses of Parliament met on emergency basis and passed the proposed legislations within three hours of their introduction in the National Assembly.
The approval of the three amendment bills also met the PPP’s condition of following the due parliamentary process.
The National Assembly and the Senate are all set to approve the three separate amendment bills on Monday, empowering the prime minister to allow extension to or re-appoint Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) and three services chiefs for three years by consensus.
The Army Act (Amendment) Bill, 2020, the Pakistan Navy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and the Pakistan Air Force (Amendment) Bill, 2020 were introduced separately in the National Assembly prior to the Friday prayers.
According to Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Khan Swati, the standing committees’ members neither opposed the proposed bills nor did they move any amendment to the three drafts.
The National Assembly would take up the three amendment bills for passage Monday morning after which the Senate would pass them the same day.
President Dr Arif Alvi is likely to sign the three amendment bills on Saturday, making them Acts of Parliament.
The Army Act (Amendment) Bill after becoming an Act of Parliament will empower the prime minister to allow three-year extension or re-appointment of the CJCSC and Chief of the Army Staff, while the Pakistan Navy Act (Amendment) Bill and the Pakistan Air Force Act (Amendment) Bill provide for extension or re-appointment of the Naval Chief and Air Chief respectively.
The 21-member National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence headed by Amjad Ali Khan is represented by parliamentarians from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), PML-N, PPP, Grand Democratic Alliance, MQM, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA)) and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).
The 13-member Senate Standing Committee on Defence, headed by Senator Walid Iqbal, comprises seven members from the PML-N, PPP, JUI-F and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI). It also includes three independent members and one member each from the PTI, MQM and National Party.
During the standing committees joint meeting, which lasted less than 40 minutes, the PML-N members of committees including Khawaja Asif, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and others came out of the committee room for consultation with the top leadership sitting in London for a few minutes and then returned to support the three amendment bills.
Talking to newsmen, PML-N parliamentary leader in the National Assembly Khawaja Muhammad Asif demanded that all the detained parliamentarians should also be produced in the House so that they could take part in the serious legislative business on Saturday.
The clauses of the three amendment bills separately say that the president on advice of the prime minister will re-appoint CJCSC, Chief of the Army Staff, Chief of the Naval Staff and Chief of the Air Staff for three years or extend their tenure for three years in the national security interests or emergency from time to time.
The three amendment bills also fix maximum retirement age of CJCSC and three services chiefs at 64, while concerned clauses also say their re-appointment or extension in tenures could also not be challenged in any court of law.
Talking to newsmen outside the Parliament House, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan said legislation for security institutions was the first step towards civil and parliamentary supremacy.
“Supremacy of Parliament is the real face of democracy,” she said.
Firdous Ashiq also congratulated all the political parties on their support to the proposed legislation.
Meanwhile, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Fazlur Rehman and Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Senator Sirajul Haq Friday opposed amendment to the Pakistan Army Act.
Addressing a press conference here, Fazl said he did not want to make the institutions controversial.
He said the Supreme Court had ordered removal of lacuna in terms of extension of the Army Chief’s tenure but more flaws were being created.
He maintained that his party would not allow a fake assembly to pass such legislation adding that his party would not become part of the legislation process.
Fazl said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) extended support to the bill but his party condemned the move.
He said both the parties should have taken other political parties into confidence on the matter before reaching a decision.
He said in order to carry out such legislation, there should be a conducive and democratic environment.
He pointed out that the matter of army chief’s service extension should not be politicized keeping in view the dignity of the state institution.
Talking to reporters outside the Parliament House on Friday, JI Amir Senator Sirajul Haq said the decisions being made on the basis of the prime minister’s like or dislike amounted to weakening the national institutions.
“It would have been in the benefit of the institution had the government introduced the amendment before November 15,” he added.
He regretted the manner the amendments were proposed, saying the ruling party had resorted to undue haste in proposing changes to the act.
“The entire process adopted by the government seems an attempt to prove Parliament a rubber stamp,” Siraj said, adding that the country desperately needed to get out of the “doctrine of necessity” as it always caused embarrassment to the entire nation in the eye of the international community.
To a question, he said it was a good omen that two main opposition parties (PML-N & PPP) were backing the PTI on the Army Act, adding it was high time that the three parties displayed unity to bring the country out of the prevailing crises of bad economy, inflation and poverty.
“If the three parties [the PTI, the PML-N & the PPP] can unite to safeguard their interests then what is keeping them from uniting on a single platform to resolve the problems facing the masses?” he said.
Expressing surprise over the politics of three parties, he said it was proved that they all were virtually on the same page but sometimes acted differently.
The JI Amir said a powerful army was the need of the country keeping in view the regional situation. He said India could attack across the boundary anytime to divert the world’s attention from its internal situation and the human rights abuses in the Occupied Kashmir.