General Asim Munir was due to retire in November next year, but will now hold the post till 2027. (Photo: AFP)
The Parliament of Pakistan has extended the tenure of the chiefs of the armed forces of Pakistan by amending the Army Act 1952, the Air Force Act 1953 and the Pakistan Navy Act 1961. Under this new amendment, the services chief will now hold office for five years instead of three.
Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif presented bills to amend these three acts in the National Assembly and Senate sessions on Monday.
Through these amendments, the tenure of the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Pakistan Air Force and Chief of Pakistan Navy has been increased from three to five years.
The extension of the tenure of the Services Chief means that he will now hold his post for another two years.
Where the Chief of Services has been extended for a further two years by extension of tenure, he may be re-appointed or extended under this Act.
The current legislation will change the entire command of promotions in the armed forces. For example, Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir was supposed to retire in November next year, but now he will remain in his post until 2027, and this will not even be legally called an extension of his tenure, but he will continue his tenure. Will complete the first tenure of tenure. After that, if the federal government wants, they can extend them further because the existing law includes the words extension and re-appointment.
Some experts say that through the current amendment, the upper limit of the army chief’s retirement has been removed at 64 years, so now the upper limit will not pose any obstacle to his extension.
Through the amendment, the services chief will get a two-year extension in his tenure, but it will affect the entire system of promotions in the forces.
In these two years, many of the eligible candidates for the chief of any force in the armed forces will retire after reaching retirement age, while many junior officers will be promoted to senior positions, and thus the armed forces will become high. The command will be relatively young and fresh reinforcements will be available.
The amendment also makes it clear that whoever becomes the chief of the armed forces will not be subject to retirement rules.
In this regard, experts say that all officers who reach the upper limit of retirement in the armed forces retire, but since the tenure of the Chief of Services has been increased, no retirement rule will apply to them. .
On the other hand, some experts are saying that all these amendments have been applied from the first day of all these acts, so in the past if a service chief has been appointed as chief even after the retirement period has passed. So it has been provided legal cover.
