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Pakistan Army Act Amendment bill presented in NA

Pakistan Army Act Amendment bill presented in NA
January 3, 2020
ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Three bills Pakistan Army Act Amendment bill, Pakistan Air Force Act Amendment bill and Pakistan Navy Act Amendment bill were presented in the National Assembly (NA) on Friday. The bills were tabled by Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak. The National Assembly and Senate’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence called for a consultation on the proposed amendment bill to Army Act will be held in the Parliament House shortly. 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, National Assembly Speaker Speaker Asad Qaiser with the consent of the House suspended “Question Hour” for next week, on a motion moved by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan. The House will now meet at 11am tomorrow. PM Khan said while chairing parliamentary party meeting today 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. 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.