Pakistan’s apex court extends term of army chief
COURT DECISION BRANDED ‘A COMEDY OF ERRORS’
Pakistan’s Supreme Court yesterday extended the army chief’s term for six months, ending days of legal tension with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government.
That’s still less than the three-year extension Khan originally wanted to keep the army chief at his post. But it gave Khan’s government time to amend the laws to allow Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa another term, as per the court’s request.
Under present laws, Khan did not have the authority keep Bajwa for another term. He would have been forced to retire at midnight yesterday if the court had overturned the extension.
“Today must be a great disappointment to those who expected the country to be destabilised by a clash of institutions,” Khan tweeted. “That this did not happen must be of special disappointment to our external enemies & mafias within.”
Pakistan’s top court granted a six-month extension to the term of the country’s army head General Qamar Javed Bajwa yesterday, after initially blocking a three-year extension of his tenure.
“We leave this matter to parliament to make law regarding this,” Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said while delivering the verdict.
In a surprise ruling on Tuesday, the Supreme Court suspended the decision to extend, approved by the government in August, citing a series of irregularities and ordering the government and the army to produce legal provisions and detailed arguments on the reasoning behind the move.
Prime Minister Imran Khan took to twitter immediately after the court verdict and criticised those who were expecting clash between the institutions after the Supreme Court had suspended the army chief’s extension notification issued by him.
“Today must be a great disappointment to those who expected the country to be destabilised by a clash of institutions. That this did not happen must be of special disappointment to our external enemies & mafias within,” he tweeted.
“Mafias who have stashed their loot abroad and seek to protect this loot by destabilising the country,” he said in
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Imran Khan
@imrankhanPTI Today must be a great disappointment to those who expected the country to be destabilised by a clash of institutions. That this did not happen must be of special disappointment to our external enemies & mafias within — another tweet and added: “For the record, 23 yrs ago we were the first Party to advocate an independent Judiciary and Rule of Law. In 2007, PTI was in the forefront of the Movement for Independence of the Judiciary & I was jailed for it. Also, for the record, I have the greatest respect for CJ Khosa, one of the greatest Jurists produced by Pakistan.”
Accusations
Despite the latest decision, the episode could weaken the authority of the government, led by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. The civilian government has enjoyed good relations with the
armed forces, in contrast to the previous government of Khan’s main rival Nawaz Sharif.
It has also led to questions about the future of Bajwa, who has led the military through a period of escalating tensions with India and western neighbour Afghanistan.
The abrupt decision of the court to suspend Bajwa’s extension, and the government’s reaction, has been branded “a comedy of errors” by Pakistan’s media, which is rarely critical of the military.
“This is without a doubt the most shambolic episode in the PTI government’s tenure so far,” said an editorial in Dawn, the country’s leading English-language newspaper yesterday.
“Surely there are other officers more than capable of leading the army. General Bajwa’s next step will determine whether he is thinking of himself or his institution.” During Bajwa’s tenure, the military has been accused by opposition politicians of electoral manipulation, meddling in politics, suspension of civil liberties and muzzling the media to help Khan win power last year. The military has always denied interfering in politics.