Khurram Dastagir hints at pressure over COAS tenure bills

LAHORE: Only a few days after the parliamentary extension of unconditional support for the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Act, senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khurram Dastgir Khan pointed to pressure on the party leadership for legislation and said that the PML-N did not withdraw from its rhetoric of  ‘respect for vote.’

Speaking at a session called Parliament Today at the Afkar-i-Taza ThinkFest in Alhamra on Saturday, PML-N, MNA Dastgi said, “If there was any pressure to vote for the Army Act, it was on our leadership, not on parliamentarians like me.”

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Moreover, he added, “If it is said that parliamentarians did not discuss this Act, it is not true, Parliamentarians of the PML-N and PPP held detailed deliberations on it and eventually decided to vote in favor of Army act in the National Assembly.”

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The PML-N legislator further said the proposed bill’s draft was shared with the opposition a week before the legislation but revealed that an interesting incident occurred only one day before the parliamentary session that set the stage for the opposition to vote on the proposed bill.