On Saturday, senior PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi expressed his “personal opinion” on a TV programme, when he said that he was against the extension in the tenure of former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa granted in 2019.
On Sunday, in an interview with the same private TV channel, Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed expressed similar sentiments.
He unequivocally said that no service chief from the Pakistan armed forces should be given an extension, and an amendment in the Army Act 1952 should be introduced to curtail this practice.
He said that extensions led to unrest in the country, but admitted that “lack of extensions” had contributed to the ouster of governments in the past.
He cited the example of former premier Mohammad Khan Junejo who he said was removed because he did not promise an extension to the then-military dictator, late General Ziaul Haq.
He elaborated that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan were removed for the very same reason.
