Ahsan-Iqbal Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Saturday that the government is hiding behind the armed forces and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa over its failures, a private TV channel reported.
The PML-N leader said the way the government has handled the army chief’s extension has made Pakistan a laughing stock in the world. “Don’t hide behind the armed forces and the army chief for your failures,” he said. “The armed forces and the army chief are institutions of the country. They do not belong to the PTI,” he said, and accused the government of trying to instigate the opposition so that no legislation over the army chief’s extension is done.
The Supreme Court on Thursday had allowed the federal government to grant a six-month extension to COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa. In its short order the apex court directed the government to bring necessary legislation within six months’ time. The order, read out by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, ordered the parliament to introduce legislation for appointment of army chief under Article 243.
