- Will it also tamp down polarisation in the country?
The Army Act Amendment Bill was passed in the National Assembly through majority vote after the JUI-F, the JI and two erstwhile Fata MNAs staged a walkout in opposition to the Bill. The legislation however received overwhelming support after the PPP and PML-N voted for it en bloc.
Only a day before PPP co-chairman Bilawal-Bhutto-Zardari had accused the Treasury members of playing games with his party by ignoring the amendments suggested by it. On Tuesday the party voluntarily withdrew its amendments in view of the regional situation and because it wanted to send the message of unity.
The PML-N parliamentary party abandoned the timeline for final vote suggested by former PM Nawaz Sharif in a letter sent to party leaders, accepting instead the government’s timeline. It also ignored the advice given a day earlier by detained leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Ahsan Iqbal. The former had accused the government of mishandling the issue of the COAS’ extension through a flawed and hastily tabled document and insisted that his party would not support the bill blindly. Ahsan Iqbal too had expressed identical views.
The JUI-F said a fake Parliament could not make the important law. The JI maintained that supporting the law was tantamount to endorsing the doctrine of necessity. MNA Mohsin Dawar said the Speaker didn’t allow the few dissenting voices to make their case which showed that Parliament was being treated as a rubber stamp.
Whether the PPP and PML-N agreed to support the Bill under duress or there was a quid pro quo remains to be seen. While asking the PPP to withdraw its proposal and support the Bill, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak had assured the party that this would create unity in the House and lead to a better situation. Will this result in the reduction of pressure on the two parties’ leadership, release of their ranking members against whom nothing has been proved so far, and establishment of normal working relations between the Government and the opposition, remains to be seen. Unless this happens, the two mainstream parties could face internal conflict and loss of face while political tension will exacerbate in the country.
