The government rushed through a bill in the National Assembly and Senate to extend the tenure of the three service chiefs from three years to five years, amid the opposition’s protest that prompted seargent at arms in action to avoid any scuffle.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, who moved the bill, was seen wearing headphones to avoid the noise and protest from the opposition.

The lower house of Parliament approved a bill seeking amendment to the Army Act of 1952, the Pakistan Air Force Act of 1962, and the Pakistan Navy Act of 1953.

The government brought all the bills in the NA session through a supplementary agenda.

According to the Army Act Amendment Bill, 1952, the rules of retirement of a general in the Pakistan Army will not apply to the army chief, who will continue to work as a general in case of appointment, re-appointment or extension.

Apart from this, the House also approved the Pakistan Air Force Act, 1953 and the Pakistan Navy Amendment Bill, 1961, by a majority vote.

According to the statement of objects and reasons, “The purpose of these amendments is 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.”

The proposed bill to amend the Army Act, the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Act, 2024, aims to extend the tenure of the Chief of Army Staff from three to five years.

It merits here to mention that previous law mentioned that the retirement age of an army chief was 64 which the government has removed through the amendment.

According to reports, it took 16 minutes for the Senate to pass the amendment into law.

“It is neither good for the country nor for the armed forces,” PTI’s Omar Ayub said.

Imran Khan’s party’s lawmakers opposed the bill during the sessions and some tore apart copies of it.

“There is no harm if the tenure of any services chief is extended to five years like we have a five-year term for a government,” Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told Geo New TV. “It will help bring stability and continuity of policies within institutions.”

The service tenure will start from the day of the appointment of the chiefs, Asif, the defence minister, told the news outlet.

Under the new law, General Munir, who took office in November 2022 with a timeline to retire in 2025, will serve until 2027 irrespective of a retirement age of 64 for a general.

Government all set to extend services chiefs tenure

The government has prepared to extend the tenure of the three service chiefs from three years to five years, sources told Aaj News as both Houses of Parliament meet on Monday (today) to consider a “key bill.”

The heads of the army, air force, and navy would have their terms increased to five years instead of the current three.

Sources within the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz said that the bill regarding the tenure extension for the three armed forces chiefs will be presented after consultations with the Pakistan Peoples Party.

It was noted that the PPP still needs to be consulted on the matter and the bill is expected to be introduced today. But there are expectations that it may be postponed for further consultation.

Moreover, there is a “strong possibility” that the Anti-Terrorism Amendment Bill and the bill to raise the number of Supreme Court judges from 17 to 34 will be approved today.

In January 2020, when former prime minister Imran Khan was in power, the Senate approved a law that allowed the government to extend the term of the country’s army chief. It set a higher retirement age for the chiefs of the Pakistani army, navy and air force, allowing the prime minister to extend their terms at his discretion.

Despite the objections of some parties and rights activists, it was seen as a move that could further tighten the military’s grip on power in the South Asian nation.

The decision was taken after Khan had approved an extension in the tenure of the-then army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa for another three years.

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On March 17, 2024, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif granted a one-year extension to Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu.

The sessions of National Assembly and Senate were scheduled to start at 4pm and at 6pm, respectively. But they did not start despite the delay, according to updates by 6:24pm.