Army chief tenure extension: PML-N, PPP assure support

ISLAMABAD: The Parliamentary Committee on Legislative Business Thursday agreed on legislation to amend the Army Act by consensus.

The 33-member committee met here with Defense Minister Pervez Khattak in the chair.

The government has decided to table the bill in Parliament today (Friday) and get it passed by consensus.

The Supreme Court had directed the government in November last year to remove ambiguity in the rules on the issue of extension in the army chief’s tenure.

The committee will meet again today prior to the National Assembly session to discuss the PPP proposal for the due parliamentary legislative process for the bill passage.

According to sources, the PPP has advised due parliamentary legislative process, while the other political parties are lending their unconditional support on the amendment.

PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari took to Twitter to urge parties not to sidestep the democratic process.

"Government committee arrived at Zardari House to discuss upcoming legislation. The People’s Party wants to positively engage with the democratic legislative process. Some parties seem to want to sidestep the legislative process," he tweeted.

"The more important the legislation the more important it is for us to follow the democratic process. PPP will take this up with other political parties as well." Talking to the newsmen after the meeting, Law Minister Farogh Naseem said a briefing was given to the political parties in the meeting on amendment to the Army Act.

“We have given satisfactory replies on our behalf to the questions asked during the meeting,” he said. He said another meeting would be held Friday morning.

Defense Minister Pervez Khattak termed the meeting outcome positive and said the bill will be got passed from the National Assembly on Friday.

He said the PML-N and PPP had been contacted and Fazlur Rehman and other parties will also be contacted.

PML-N parliamentary leader in the National Assembly Khawaja Asif said the amendment to the Army Act concerned all the four services chiefs.

PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif personally made a phone call to Khawaja Asif and informed him that the party leadership had decided to unconditionally support amendments to the Army Act, dismissing rumors that the PML-N wanted to strike a deal on the issue to get some favors for its under-trial leaders.

“PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif during his telephonic talk with senior party member Khawaja Asif also conveyed him the message of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif stating that he also desired early resolution of the issue of extension of Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa,” the sources said.

The sources claimed that Nawaz Sharif, who was getting medical treatment for his ailments in London, always avoided discussing political issues with Shahbaz Sharif and other family members but this was the first time in the recent weeks when he directed his party on the issue of extension in the Army Chief’s tenure.

The sources said Nawaz told Shahbaz that the party should not make the issue of amendment to the Army Act controversial and try to help resolve it at the earliest.

“Nawaz Sharif is not feeling well and doctors have initially assessed that he would have to go to the United States to identify and treat the real cause of sudden drop in his platelets. So he avoids talking about political issues and is fully focusing on his medical treatment,” the sources said.

This decision by the leadership of PML-N also poured cold water over the buzz that it wanted to strike a deal on the issue.

They said Shahbaz Sharif’s message to the participants of parliamentary party about his party’s unconditional support on the issue was a clear message to all about former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s stance on this highly critical issue.

It is pertinent to mention that the PML-N is being criticized by various quarters on the social media for extending unconditional support on the issue and many even termed it ‘Mother of All U-turns’.

When this correspondent tried to contact PML-N’s leaders Pervaiz Rasheed and Marriyum Aurangzeb, they first dropped the calls and later turned their mobile phones off.

Besides Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Legislative Business and Defense Minister Pervez Khattak, the meeting was attended by Federal Ministers Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Tariq Bashir Cheema, Farogh Naseem, Azam Khan Swati, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and Minister of State Ali Muhammad Khan, MNAs Malik Aamir Digar, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Khawaja Asif, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Syed Naveed Qamar, Ghaus Bukhsh Mehar, Khalid Magsi, Ms Shahida Akhtar Ali, Amir Haider Khan Hoti, Moshin Dawar and senators Shibli Faraz, Raja Zafarul Haq, Mushahidullah Khan, Sherry Rehman, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Sirajul Haq, Sitara Ayaz, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, Anwarul Haq Kakar, Muzaffar Hussain Shah, Jehanzeb Jamaldeni, Aurangzeb Khan and Mir Kabir Ahmed.