Terms of service

As expected, on Tuesday the National Assembly unanimously approved three amendment bills concerning the tenure of service of the chiefs of the army, air force and navy. There had been little doubts that the legislation would easily gain approval of the National Assembly after the PML-N withdrew any suggestions that it could oppose it and the PPP abandoned its calls for more in-depth debate and discussion before the voting process. The approval of the amendments has closed a heated chapter in the history of Pakistan. Heated because it had generated a lot of speculation about the roles various institutions play in the country – not that such extensions were not given earlier. The recent amendments to the Army Act 1952, Pakistan Air Force Act 1953, and Pakistan Navy Ordinance 1961 have finally formalized the tenures of the services chiefs. This was one of the rare occasions when Prime Minister Imran Khan was also present in the National Assembly session.

The major opposition parties all voted for the amendments. The parties had also held several internal meetings to discuss the situation brought about after the Supreme Court in November last year granted General Qamar Javed Bajwa a six-month extension but ordered parliament to legislate on the matter. Parliament has now given its verdict in the Lower House. The change in law, which has moved to the Senate for approval today, means that an upper age limit of 64 years has now been set for four-star appointments in the case of reappointment and extension. In addition, the president has been empowered to extend the tenure of all chiefs and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee on the advice of the premier. No court will be allowed to question the reappointment of a chief on any grounds.

The decision by the major parties to support the legislation is hardly surprising, and there were not many dissenting voices to the bills – apart from the MNAs belonging to the Jamaat-e-Islami and JUI-F, and the two representatives from the Fata region who voted against the amendments. Given Pakistan’s history, major parties will naturally wish to avoid demonstrating much dissent. The new amendments in the law now essentially lay out the terms of service in black and white, removing any doubts over service extensions and how they can be granted. In Pakistan’s current situation this may add some much-needed stability, and some see it as being much better than the non-formal extensions that were given previously. There

are those too, though, who question as to whether this can weaken parliament and the executive in any way. The future will provide the answer.