Pak forms panel on army chief’s extension

Islamabad, December 2 

Pakistan today constituted a three-member committee of key ministers to draft a new legislation on the extension or reappointment of an army chief’s tenure, according to a media report, days after the top court granted a six-month conditional extension to the incumbent General Qamar Javed Bajwa. 

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak and Minister for Planning Asad Omar are part of the committee, The Express Tribune reported. The committee was set up after the Supreme Court gave the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan six months to legislate and iron out the lacunae in the reappointment or extension of tenure of an army chief, allowing the incumbent, Gen Bajwa, to stay on as Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) until a new law determined his terms of service. 

The members of the committee will also debate on the new legislation with the Opposition parties in Parliament, the report said. 

During the landmark hearings in the apex court, a three-member bench issued the verdict after the Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan submitted an undertaking that Parliament would enact a new law on the matter. — PTI