Mixed reaction in party ranks after PML-N supports to amend Army Act

ISLAMABAD: A senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) leader said on Tuesday there were mixed reactions within the party’s rank and file for its decision to lend support to the government over a law which would secure a three-year extension for Pakistan’s military chief.
A number of senior party figures had also questioned the party’s decision to support the bill, PML-N Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq told Arab News declining to name any of the dissidents.
At last week’s parliamentary meeting of lawmakers from the PML-N, “one person, I will not name him, said that the law will only be amended as per the doctrine of necessity, temporarily; this will not be a permanent solution,” Haq said.
The government of Prime Minister Imran Khan approved an extension for General Qamar Javed Bajwa in August 2019, citing a worsening national security situation in the region over its rivalry with India.
But in a surprise ruling, the Supreme Court struck down the extension in November, ordering the government and army to produce legal provisions and arguments on the reasoning behind the move, pitting the judiciary against the government and powerful military.
On Tuesday, the National Assembly passed three bills to legalize tenure extensions for the army, navy and air force chiefs. Their appointments, reappointments and extensions will now be the prerogative of the prime minister and cannot be challenged in a court of law.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Pakistan’s former prime minister and a jailed PML-N leader, told reporters on Monday that “there are flaws in the law [Pakistan Army Amendment Act 2020].”
“Such bills are made for the future, they should be examined carefully,” he said.

Mixed reaction in party ranks after PML-N supports to amend Army Act