Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and former Supreme Court Bar Association president Aitzaz Ahsan on Wednesday said that it is the constitutional right of any prime minister to appoint the army chief of his choice.
“This is a principle of parliamentary sovereignty,” argued Ahsan, adding: “The court should not have intervened in the matter.”
“The [Supreme Court] is a respectful institution, but the principle of parliamentary sovereignty is also supreme,” he said.
BREAKING: Renowned lawyer Chaudry Aitzaz Ahsan declares Army Chief’s extension as per law. The rights of selection of Army Chief rest with PM and court cannot intervene in it, he said.
What’s your take on this?#BajwaExtension #TimesOfKarachi pic.twitter.com/WtS4y145Kp
— The Times of Karachi (@TOKCityOfLights) November 27, 2019
“Regardless of whether Prime Minister Imran Khan made the right decision or the wrong one, It is not the prerogative of a judge or anyone else to make this appointment.”, Ahsan declared.
The PPP stalwart observed that under Article 48 of the Constitution, the court should not be commenting on how many people voted or did not vote in a cabinet meeting.
“One can challenge the extension on the basis of qualification, but the prime minister, not the court, has the right to make the decision.”
