Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Saturday deemed the tenure extension granted to former chief of army staff General (retired) Qamar Javed Bajwa through the Army Act 1952 in January 2020 a “mistake”. The senior PML-N leader, in an interview on a private television channel, commented on the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Act, 2020 and said that he considered the amendment “a mistake from day one”.
“Extension [in tenure] is an extraordinary process, it shouldn’t be made routine,” the former prime minister said. According to the act, a serving army chief can be re-appointed for a three-year term and the appointment can’t be challenged in any court of law in the future.
He added that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and then prime minister Imran Khan extended the former army chief’s tenure in August 2019 – three months ahead of his retirement. “Then-prime minister Imran Khan gave an extension without consulting [anyone]. Amending the law after the extension was a mistake,” the senior PML-N leader said. The decision, Khaqan said, should have been taken in November 2019 and that Khan made it in haste. “The military itself will demand repealing the amendment.”
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