Parliament approves bill extending tenure of services chiefs up to 5 years

• Asif presents bill to amend Pakistan (Army/Air Force/Navy) Acts.
• Services chiefs can be reappointed for five years, reads bill.
• Its reduction, not extension, says Rana Sanaullah.

Shortly after receiving the National Assembly’s nod, the Senate on Monday passed the bill seeking amendments to the laws that deal with all three branches of the armed forces, extending the fixed tenure of services chiefs up to five years.     

The bill to amend the Pakistan (Army/Air Force/Navy) Act Amendment, 2024, was presented in both houses by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif.

“The purpose of these amendments are to make consistent the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, The Pakistan Navy Ordinance, 1961 and The Pakistan Air Force Act, 1953 with the maximum tenure of the Chief of the Army Staff, the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff and to make consequential amendments for uniformity in the aforementioned laws,” stated the bill — a copy of which is available with Geo News.  

Regarding the retirement age and service limits of services chiefs, including COAS, CNS, and CAS, the document read that the criteria prescribed for the senior military officers “shall not be applicable” to the army, navy and air force heads during their “tenure of appointment, reappointment and/or extension”.

Apart from this, both houses of parliament also adopted the Pakistan Air Force Act, 1953 and the Pakistan Navy Amendment Bill, 1961.

The bill seeking amendment to Pakistan Army Act, 1952 stated: “In the said Act, in section 8A, in sub-section (1), for the expression ‘three (03)’ the word ‘five (05)’ shall be substituted.” 

Similarly, the bill aims to increase the length of time the service chief can be reappointed or have their tenure extended to five years, amending the Section 8B of the act.

“In the said Act, in section 8B, in sub-section (1)- 10 for the expression ‘three (03)’, occurring twice, the expression ‘five (05)’ shall be substituted,” it stated.

Furthermore, the government also proposed an amendment to Section 8C, which deals with the retirement age, which is 64 years, and service limits of service chiefs.

The proposed amendment reads: “The retirement age and service limits prescribed for a General, under the Rules and Regulations made under this Act, shall not be applicable to the Chief of the Army Staff, during his tenure of appointment, reappointment and/or extension. Throughout such tenure, the Chief of the Army Staff shall continue to serve as a General in the Pakistan Army.” 

Following the passage of bills, NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq adjourned the session till 11am tomorrow.  

‘Its reduction, not extension’

Speaking to Geo News programme ‘Capital Talk’, Rana Sanaullah — Adviser to Prime Minister on Political Affairs — said that the term of army chief has been “reduced and not extended.”

“In the past, the terms of army chiefs were up to 6 to 11 years [...] Now the tenure has been shortened,” he said, while referring to the tenure of former army chiefs.

In response to a question regarding NA’s proceedings, he said the speaker asked the opposition to remain seated and listen and they will be given a chance to speak. “They were not in the mood to debate in the lower house.”

He further said that the opposition should have presented its amendments in the National Assembly today.

Lambasting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) over the "Form-45 and Form-47" narrative, Sanaullah said that why the former ruling party forgot that it “lost the 2018 election and remained in power for four years”.

Meanwhile, PTI leader Shoaib Shaheen — while speaking on the same show — claimed that the opposition was “unaware” of the bill seeking amendments to the Pakistan Army Act. “They abruptly took the bill out of their pockets and tabled it.”

“PTI founder Imran Khan had admitted that the extension was a mistake,” he added.