Islamabad - Prime Minister Imran Khan has constituted a committee to engage Opposition parties for legislation about reappointment or extension in Chief of Army Staff’s tenure.
According to official sources here on Saturday, the committee comprises Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umer and Leader of the House in Senate Syed Shibli Faraz.
Amazingly, the committee nominated by the Prime Minister has no member from the allied parties of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) to engage all political parties in the parliament to work out a consensus piece of legislation on the thorny issue within six months.
A day after the Supreme Court verdict, PTI showed signs of initiating dialogue with the Opposition.
The government has expressed the resolve to garner support from opposition parties in the Parliament to review all existing laws related to reappointment or extension in the tenure of the Chief of Army Staff.
The Supreme Court on Thursday gave the government six months to legislate and iron out the lacunae in the laws.
A three-member bench of the apex court, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Mian Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, issued the verdict on the case after an undertaking given by the government’s legal team that the parliament would bring in a new law on the matter within six months.
The ruling averted a crisis as the incumbent COAS was set to retire on the night between Thursday and Friday.
Political analysts are sceptical about success of the government committee to secure support of the Opposition parties in the parliament because of their wide differences with government on several key issues.
They are of the view that PTI-led ruling coalition will have to work hard to that end because of the severity being shown by the Opposition parties through their political statements on the issue.
However, government seems firm to evolve a consensus with all the opposition parties in the parliament on the desired legislation.
