Amendments to army, navy, air force Acts: Bills sanctioned by NA-Senate body on defence

Joint Standing Committee on Defense of the National Assembly and Senate has approved the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2020, the Pakistan Navy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and the Pakistan Air Force (Amendment) Bill, 2020 separately.

The Joint Committee met in-camera with Captain Jamil Ahmed Khan (retd) in the chair at Parliament House on Friday. Talking to media on Friday in the corridor of the Parliament House, Federal Minster for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Swati said the bills, pertaining to the tenure of the three services chiefs, were approved unanimously by the joint committee and will be presented for approval in the National Assembly today (Saturday).

After the committee meeting, Federal Law Minister Farogh Naseem said the committee approved the bills unanimously. He said that all the members of PPP, PML-N and JUI-F, except Senator Mushtaq Ahmed of Jamaat-e-Isami (JI), supported the bills. He said that opposition members did not present any amendment to the bills.

However, Senator Mushahid Ullah Khan of PML-N while talking to media said that committee did not approve the bills. He said that some members opposed the bills. He said that the government needs to develop censuses on the bills. He said that the PML-N members would follow the directions of their leader Nawaz Sharif. He said that the bills would be approved after proper discussion and debate. He said that committee did not discuss the bills.

However, the PML-N on Thursday assured the PTI government of its "unconditional" support to the bills, but Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had cautioned the PTI government against showing haste in the matter to ensure proper and sagacious legislation through the Parliament.

Talking to media, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zaradri said, "When court has ordered that Parliament should take up this issue then we should also adopt parliamentary procedure and I told the government if they need the support of PPP then they have to adopt parliamentary procedure."

He said, "In democracy we fight in a democratic way for our space and our parliamentary norms. I think that if this bill is passed without circulating among members and going to Defence Committee, it would not be good either for our institution of Parliament or for the institution of Army."

The PPP chairman said, "I think this is a small success for our Parliament, for our democratic system and for our parliamentary norms. I do not know what the haste from the government was and I still do have some confusion what the government's stance is. We have created a consensus by adopting National Assembly's procedure. The government has gone for review as well. When this process is completed in the Parliament then that contradiction will also go away but I want to strongly emphasize on one thing that the political parties of the country, whether in government or opposition, if do not respect this Parliament then no one will respect it. If important bills are passed without parliamentary procedures then there will be no space left for future politicians."He said that the bills would be discussed in the House, adding that PML-N has not taken the opposition parties into confidence before offering the government their unconditional support to the legislation.

"I think this should not have happened in this way. It is the responsibility of the leader of the opposition to unite the opposition and maintain consensus."

Bilawal said it is a "small victory" for his party that the government is not bulldozing the bill and is instead following parliamentary rules and regulations in this regard. "If important bills are passed without following the Parliament's procedure, it will set a bad precedent for the future," he said.

"I am still a little confused on what the actual stance of the government is as the government has also challenged the Supreme Court's order through its review petition which on its face looks like a contradiction to me," the PPP chief said, adding that he hoped this contradiction will be removed after a passage of this bill.

Answering a question regarding an alleged letter written by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif regarding the legislation, Bilawal said: "I do not know about this letter. I need to check."

Responding to another question, he said that as far as accountability process is concerned and the way National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is acting from the first day, the PPP has a consistent policy that NAB law is a 'black law' and it is an institution established by a dictator. He claimed that the NAB is conducting political victimisation and is only picking up opposition representatives and investigating them.

"We hope that we can reach a compromise and we can bring some amendments in NAB law. Whatever amendments we bring, God willing they will be for improvement but I think that they will not be enough. As long as we do not close this NAB, which is an undemocratic institution established for political victimisation, we cannot deal with corruption."

Talking to media persons, Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the bills would be debated during Saturday's session. He said all the parties are moving ahead on the Army Act (Amendment) Bill 2020 with consensus. He said a positive session was held with the opposition on the issue on Friday. He hoped that the bill will be passed unanimously today (Saturday).

He also expressed confidence that the matters of selection of the members of the Election Commission of Pakistan and amendments to the NAB laws will also be settled with consensus among political parties. He said the government and the opposition have agreed that Parliament will decide the matter of selecting the ECP members.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan congratulated the opposition parties and their members for fulfilling the "important responsibility."

"This is an important step towards civilian supremacy and it has proven if leadership has vision, every challenge can be turned into an opportunity," she said.

Law Minister Farogh Naseem had said all parties and stakeholders were on the same page regarding the passage of the bill. Earlier the government tabled the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2020 in the National Assembly, nearly four weeks after it assured the Supreme Court of passing legislation on the extension and reappointment of a chief of army staff (COAS) within six months.

The Army (Amendment) Bill 2020 is aimed at setting the retirement age of the chief of army staff (COAS) at 64 and empowering the prime minister to extend his tenure by three years.

Besides the Army (Amendment) Bill 2020, two other bills related to Armed Forces including the Pakistan Air Force (Amendment) Bill 2020 and the Pakistan Navy (Amendment) Bill 2020 were also tabled.

The bills were referred to the concerned standing committees of both the houses - National Assembly and Senate - for further deliberation, from where it got approval without any changes. All the three bills - Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2020, Pakistan Air Force (Amendment) Bill 2020, and Pakistan Navy (Amendment) Bill 2020 - will be presented in the House today (Saturday) for passage.

After the passage from the Parliament, the Prime Minister would have the power to extend the tenure of all three services chiefs for a one-time 'up to three years' extension and on his advice, the President will issue a formal notification, in 'national security or exigencies from time to time.'

"The appointment, reappointment or extension in tenure of the army chief or the exercise of discretion by the appointing authority in this regard, will not be called into question before any court on any ground whatsoever," reads the bill.

The bill says that retirement age and service limits of army chief prescribed for a general, under the rules and regulations made under this act, will not be applicable to the chief of army staff during his tenure of appointment, reappointment, or extension, subject to a maximum age of sixty-four years. Throughout such tenure, the chief of army staff will continue to serve as a general in the Pakistan Army.

It further says that notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or any other law for the time being in force, the President, on the advice of the Prime Minister, may reappoint the chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee for

additional tenure of three years, or extend the tenure of the chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee up to three years, on such terms and conditions, as may be determined by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister in the national security interest or exigencies, from time to time.

The Act after its passage from the Parliament will come into force at once and will be deemed to have taken effect from November 27, 2019, the date on which the incumbent army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa was given a three-year extension.

With the amendment in the bill, the maximum age limit for an army chief will be 64 years and this will be applied in case of extension in his term, but the regular age limit of COAS will be 60 years.

Now it would be the Prime Minister's prerogative whether to give an extension to the army chief in future. The Army Act's amendments will also be applicable to the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and the other two services chiefs.

The three bills - Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2020, Pakistan Air Force (Amendment) Bill 2020, and Pakistan Navy (Amendment) Bill 2020 - were tabled by Defense Minister Pervez Khattak.

According to statement of objects and reasons, Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2020 seeks to amend the provisions of the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, so as to empower the President on the advice of the Prime Minister, to specify the tenure and the terms and conditions of service of COAS or the chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, including the grant of extension to, and re-appointment of COAS or the chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, and to provide for other related matters, in light of Supreme Court verdict dated November 28, 2019.

The Pakistan Air Force (Amendment) Bill 2020 seeks to amend the provisions of Pakistan Air Force Act, 1953 so as to empower the President on the advice of the Prime Minister, to specify the tenure and the terms and conditions of service of chief of air staff or chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee including grant of extension to, and reappointment of the chief of air staff or the chairman joint chiefs of staff committee, and to provide for other related matters, in light of the Supreme Court verdict dated November 28, 2019.

The Pakistan Navy (Amendment) Bill 2020 seeks to amend the provisions of the Pakistan Navy Ordinance, 1961 so as to empower the President, on the advice of the Prime Minister, to specify the tenure and the terms and conditions of service of chief of naval staff or the chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee including the grant of extension to, and re-appointment of chief of naval staff or the chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and to provide for other related matters, in the light of Supreme Court judgment dated November 28, 2019.

Earlier, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser with the consent of the House suspended the question hour session for the next week, on a motion moved by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan.

Speaking on a point of order, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader and Member of National Assembly Khawaja Asif asked the Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser to issue production orders for the jailed MNAs so that they can take part in the vote on important bills.

"I request the Speaker National Assembly to issue the production orders of the detained MNAs to enable them to attend the important business of the House," he added. The House would meet again today (Saturday) to take up the three bills.