PTI calls meeting on new army chief law
The PTI has called a meeting of its parliamentarians and allies in Parliament to speak about the new law it needs to pass on the army chief’s tenure.
The meeting was called on Friday, a day after the Supreme Court decided to extend General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s tenure as army chief for six months. Prime Minister Imran Khan will not attend the meeting because of commitments so Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood will chair it.
The meeting will discuss the start of proceedings to enact the law and implement both the prime minister and top court’s orders.
The Supreme Court extended General Bajwa’s tenure by six months on the condition that Parliament enact a law specifying the tenure of the army chief and other conditions of his service.
The court had asked the government to submit an undertaking that Parliament would enact the law in six months. By May 2020, the Parliament has to draft and pass the law.
The order read,
“The current appointment of General Qamar Javed Bajwa as COAS shall be subject to the said legislation and shall continue for a period of six months from today, whereafter the new legislation shall determine his tenure and other terms and conditions of service.”
It also directed the government to “clearly specify the terms and conditions of service of the COAS through an Act of Parliament and to clarify the scope of Article 243 of the Constitution in this regard.”
During the hearings on Wednesday and Thursday, three judges–Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah–questioned the attorney general about the law under which the army chief’s tenure was set.
They saw that no tenure was mentioned in either the Army Act or the Constitution.
