President Arif Alvi signs services act amendment bills

ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi on Thursday approved all amendments pertaining to the extension in the tenure of services chiefs of the armed forces (Army, Navy and Air Force).

All three amendments have officially become law after the president’s signature.

On January 8, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak tabled the bills in Senate which were unanimously passed by the members.

The National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday had unanimously passed three amended law including Army Act amendment bill, pertaining to tenure of the services chiefs.

The National Assembly met with Speaker Asad Qaiser in the chair. Prime Minister Imran Khan also attended the all-important session. The bills were passed by the lawmakers’ clause by clause.

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“After being approached by a government delegation and consulting with the rest of the opposition, the party decided to withdraw the recommendations”, PPP’s Naveed Qamar said in the NA.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence had approved the Army Act Amendment Bill on Monday. The committee had to be summoned again after it was established that the rules and regulations of parliament were violated in the January 3 session of the committee.

It may be noted that the amendments were made in line with the directions of the Supreme Court’s verdict.