Thursday, March 28, 2024

Army chief’s tenure extension is PM’s discretion, says Imran Khan

Army chief’s tenure extension is PM’s discretion, says Imran Khan
January 3, 2020
ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Friday has said that the army chief’s tenure extension is the discretion the premier. Pm Khan said while chairing parliamentary party meeting regarding the Army Act Amendment Bill 2020. During the meeting, he stated that he acknowledged the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) despite his authority. “The SC gave its verdict over the case pertaining to the army chief’s tenure and the government altogether accepted the decision,” he maintained. PM Khan said that bureaucracy and business community had reservations over the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which had halted the national development. Imran Khan mentioned that the NAB Ordinance 2019 has been introduced in the national interest and the government committee is holding consultations with the opposition over the matter. The meeting was attended by Shireen Mazari, Naeemul Haque, Amir Mahmood Kiyani, Zartaj Gul and other PTI leaders. Attorney General (AG) Anwar Mansoor Khan informed the attendees on the Army Act Amendment bill and NAB Ordinance 2019. Defence Minister Pervez Khattak and State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan apprised the party leaders of meetings with the opposition parties. After the meeting, Pervez Khattak tabled the Army Act Amendment bill in the parliament. Afer approval from the National Assembly, the bill will be presented in the Senate and is likely to be approved from both the houses as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) announced unconditional support to the amendment. Earlier, the PML-N has decided to support the amendment to the Army Act unconditionally. The government delegation had met the PML-N leaders and sought help in the legislation for the amendment to the Army Act. The PML-N leadership decided to support the amendment after a message from the top leaders. The message was conveyed to the participants of a meeting of the party’s parliamentary committee. The party leaders, in the message, said that they do not want to make the COAS designation controversial. Talking to the media after the meeting on Thursday, Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak said that they would hopefully complete the consultation by the evening.