Former prime minister (PM) has agreed to lend support for the legislation in army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa’s extension matter, but with a condition, The Express Tribune reported.
According to the details, former premier is flexible to supporting the Pakistan Tehreeke Insaf (PTI) government legislation to fix the army chief’s tenure but has reservations on giving a legal cover to giving extension to an army chief.
The government reportedly before filing a review petition against the Supreme Court’s verdict in Gen Bajwa’s extension case tried to gain support of the opposition parties, including Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), for required legislation.
“The government had approached us through intermediaries”, reports quoted unknown officials from two opposition parties belonging to the PPP and the PML-N.
But after failing to gather ‘desirable support’ from them, the government after nearly a month decided to file review petition in the apex court.
Reports also reveal that a senior legal advisor of the PML-N has said that most party lawmakers believe that by supporting the ruling government on the extension issue could potentially harm the party’s own narrative which it has adopted since the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif as PM on July 28, 2017.
He furhter alleged that the government stage-managed the arrest of PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal and denied Maryam Nawaz permission to fly abroad to London after its failure to bend the PML-N and secure ‘unconditional support’ for the extension legislation.
On the other hand, the PPP has reportedly set certain preconditions for supporting the legislation, which include proposed legislation on the NAB [National Accountability Bureau] law, the appointment of chief election commissioner, and elections reforms.
On November 28, the Supreme Court had allowed the federal government to grant a six-month conditional extension to Chief of Army Staff (COAS). SC also directed the government to bring necessary legislation within six months’ time.
