Another leader of the PML-N is opposed to the COAS extension law.
Mushahid has called for the Army Act of 1952 to be amended so that it can put an end to the practice.
It would appear that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), despite having supported the then-government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in adopting the legislation in 2019, has quite a difference of opinion within its ranks when it comes to extending the service tenure of the army commander.
On Saturday, prominent PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi appeared on a TV programme and gave his “personal opinion,” in which he stated that he was against the extension in the tenure of former army head Gen. (ret.) Qamar Javed Bajwa, which was granted in 2019.
Similar comments were stated by Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed during an interview that took place on Sunday with the same private television programme.
He stated firmly that there should be no extension granted to any service chief in the Pakistan armed forces and that there should be a change made to the Army Act 1952 to prevent the continuation of this practise.
He stated that extensions were the cause of turmoil in the country, but he did agree that “lack of extensions” had previously been a factor in the overthrow of administrations in other countries.
He used the example of a former premier named Mohammad Khan Junejo, who, according to him, was dismissed from his position because he did not pledge an extension to the late General Ziaul Haq, who was the military dictator at the time.
He went on to explain that both the previous prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, and the previous president, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, were dismissed from their positions for the same reason.
In response to a query, he suggested that the inability of any premier in the history of the country to see out their full term was due not just to the absence of a political consensus but also to the absence of “rules of the game.”
In response to another question, he made a veiled reference to the fact that the former prime minister Imran Khan was removed from office in the same manner in which he had risen to prominence.
Mushahid also made the remark that the legitimacy of the military’s claims of “neutrality” would be established if the country held elections that were free, fair, and unaffected by outside influence.
He continued by saying that he did not anticipate general elections taking place very soon. He implied that people are waiting for “favourable results” by making a connection between the postponement of the elections for the municipal governments in Karachi and Islamabad and the same issue.
