–President Alvi approves all three amendments to Army Act after their smooth passage from NA, Senate
–Govt to submit report on completion of legislation to SC
ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi on Thursday approved all the amendments made to the Army Act which covers all three military forces — Army, Navy and Air Force — of Pakistan, officially making them law with effect from Nov 27, 2019.
The federal government will soon submit a report on the legislation to the Supreme Court.
After receiving green signal from the National Assembly and Senate, the amendment bills — the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill 2020, the Pakistan Air Force (Amendment) Bill 2020 and the Pakistan Navy (Amendment) Bill 2020 — pertaining to the extension in the tenure of the services chiefs were forwarded to President Alvi for final approval.
The legislation has fixed 64 years as the maximum age limit of the three services chiefs — chief of army staff, chief of air staff and chief of naval staff — and the chairman of the joint chief of staff committee. The prime minister will have the prerogative to give an extension to any of them in the future after completion of their normal tenure at the age of 60 years and the president will give the final nod on the PM’s advice.
Earlier on Wednesday, the bills were moved for voting by Defence Minister Pervez Khattak. Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani then put up these bills for a voice vote, with a majority of members voting in favour of the bill. The session, which lasted for only 20 minutes, was adjourned immediately after the passage of the bills till Friday. Sanjrani had referred the bills to the Senate Standing Committee on Defence on Tuesday –after their approval from the National Assembly– which held an emergency meeting within minutes after adjournment of the Senate session and passed them unanimously.
NA ACCORDS APPROVAL TO BILLS:
The National Assembly had approved all the three bills on Tuesday with little opposition.
The only voice votes against the bills initially had come from the two independent MNAs from the tribal areas – Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir – who remained in the House for some time and later left the house after tearing up the copies of the assembly agenda to join the members of the JUI-F and the JI, who had walked out from the House as soon as the assembly started the process of the bills’ passage.
The PPP that had suggested recommendations regarding amendments to the bills also took back the proposed revisions after the request by the government. “This will create unity in the House and will create a better situation,” said the defence minister.
Taking the floor, PPP MNA Naveed Qamar took back his party’s recommendations regarding all three bills.
“Keeping in mind the situation in the country and the new situation in the region and after consulting with the rest of the opposition, […] in order to send a unified message, we (PPP) have decided not to press these amendments,” he said.
Speaker Asad Qaiser conducted a clause by clause reading of each bill, one after the other, putting them up for a voice vote.
A day earlier, the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Defence unanimously approved the bills during an in-camera session, an indication that the government and opposition had reached an accord on the passage of the bill.
EXTENSION CONUNDRUM:
Prime Minister Imran Khan had previously extended Gen Bajwa’s tenure through a notification in August 2019, but the top court suspended it on Nov 26, 2019, due to irregularities in the manner of extension.
After three days of heightened uncertainty, the apex court, through a short order on Nov 28, 2019, had announced that Gen Bajwa would remain the COAS for another six months during which the parliament would legislate on the army chief’s extension/reappointment.
In its detailed verdict released on Dec 16, 2019, the top court had emphasised that it was up to the parliament to carry out legislation that would provide “certainty and predictability” to the post of the COAS for all times to come.
In the wake of the apex court’s order, the government had introduced the three bills regarding the services chiefs’ tenures in the National Assembly on Friday.
