COAS extension, reappointment - Only Army Act to be amended: AG

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Army Act and military regulations will be amended to provide for extension, reappointment, tenure, salary, perks, and privileges of the chief of army staff. “Only the army act and regulations will be changed for the purpose,” Attorney General of Pakistan Anwar Mansoor Khan told The News when contacted on Saturday.

To a query, he posed a counter question "who has asked for amending Article 243 of the Constitution," which deals with the command of the armed forces. He made it clear that there was no need to amend this article, saying it has nothing to do with the legal lacunae or shortcomings that the Supreme Court pinpointed during hearings on Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa’s extension, reappointment case. The attorney general said the amendments would be finalised as “we will sit together to deliberate upon them very soon”. When asked whether the changes would be inserted in a couple of weeks, he said “before that”.

The apex court had pointed out that the constitution and the relevant laws and regulations were silent on the extension, reappointment, tenure, salary, pension, perks and privileges of the army chief. It left to the government and parliament to rectify the lacunae and remove ambiguities to avoid the confusion and crisis-like situation in future and clarify the scope of Article 243. Until now, no initiative has been taken by the government to engage the opposition parties in parleys to reach a consensus on the proposed amendments. If the government concluded that amendments were to be made only in the army act and regulations and not in Article 243, as the attorney general stated, a simple majority in both the Senate and National Assembly will be sufficient to pass them. However, a two-thirds majority will be mandatory for the passage of a constitutional amendment.

It is obvious that the ruling coalition has a simple majority in the National Assembly to approve a subordinate legislation like amendments in the army act, but lacks the requisite numerical strength in the Senate, which is dominated by the opposition parties. If either of the parliamentary chamber doesn’t clear an ordinary bill (having nothing to do with money matters), it can be referred to the joint sitting of parliament where it can, as required in the both the Houses, be cleared by the majority support of all the lawmakers. In the case of a constitutional amendment, a two-thirds majority is essential for its passage.

However, there is a catch in Article 70, which specifies the procedure for introduction and passing of ordinary bills, and that is that an amendment can be passed “by the votes of the majority of the members present and voting in the joint sitting,” which means no simple majority in both the Senate and National Assembly assembled together will be needed.

The article says a bill with respect to any matter in the Federal Legislative List may originate in either Senate or the National Assembly and shall, if it is passed by the House in which it originated, be transmitted to the other House, and, if the Bill is passed without amendment by the other House also, it shall be presented to the president for assent. If the bill transmitted to a House is passed with amendments, it shall be sent back to the House in which it originated and if that House passes it with those amendments it shall be presented to the President for assent. If the bill transmitted to a House is rejected or is not passed within 90 days of its laying or a Bill sent to a House with amendments is not passed by it with such amendments, the Bill, at the request of the House in which it originated, shall be considered in a joint sitting and if passed by the votes of the majority of the members present and voting in the joint sitting it shall be presented to the President for assent.

Article 239 deals with constitutional amendments. It is similar to Article 70 with three exceptions: two-thirds majority instead of simple majority needed in both Houses; two-thirds majority is also mandatory even in parliament as against ordinary legislation, which can be approved by simply majority of the “members present and voting”; and a constitutional amendment which would have the effect of altering the limits of a province shall not be presented to the president for assent unless it has been passed by the assembly of that province by the votes of not less than two-thirds of its total membership.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its allies on one side and opposition parties on the other have closely contested their positions in parliament. Given their respective numerical strengths, the ruling coalition has around 225 MPs while the opposition has nearly 221 members whereas the simple majority of the total lawmakers of 446 (342 MNAs and 104 senators) comes to 224. The PTI has 156 members of the National Assembly (MNAs). Its allies have varying numbers. The Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) have five members each; Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has seven MPs; Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) has three lawmakers; Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) has four MNAs and Awami Muslim League and Jamhoori Watan Party have one member each besides the support of two independents. They all come to 184.

In the Lower House of Parliament, the PML-N has 84 MNAs; Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has 55 MPs; Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has 16 members; and Awami National Party (ANP) has one lawmaker. Two independents stand with the opposition parties. In the Senate, the PTI is supported by 15 legislators, the MQM by 5 senators, the BAP by two MPs, and BNP-M and PML-Functional by one each. If the decisive number of 16 senators, including those elected from the erstwhile tribal areas are placed in the government pocket, the total strength of the PTI and its allies come to 39 senators.

On the other hand, the PML-N has 31 senators (including Ishaq Dar, who can’t take part in voting for being abroad and not having taken oath); the PPP has 19 lawmakers; the Jamiat Ulemae Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has four members, National Party has five legislators; Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party has two senators; and ANP has one senator. All of them come to 62 members.