Lahore, Nov 6 (PTI) Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday that a two-year extension to the three services chiefs, including Army Chief Gen Asim Munir, is a “massacre of democracy, the rule of law, and the rights of the people.” Khan made the comments during a conversation with the media and his lawyers in the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where he has been incarcerated, according to a post on his X account.
Pakistan’s Parliament on Monday passed a legislation extending the tenure of the army, air force and navy chiefs from three to five years.
It is widely believed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government made the legislation under the direction of the most powerful person in Pakistan, Gen Asim Munir, who will remain in office till November 2027 after getting a two-year extension. “The extensions that have been granted are a massacre of democracy, the rule of law, and the rights of the people,” the X post said, quoting Khan.
“The people of Pakistan will have to come out against the occupation imposed by the Extension Mafia. Otherwise, our future generations will be forced to live like insects,” he said.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supremo further said, “The country is under the control of an occupation and extension mafia, who are using every dirty tactic to extend their hold on power, which neither the constitution, nor the law, or even political ethics and morality, allows.” He added that the 26th Constitutional Amendment and the other laws enacted for extensions are a part of this.
“Both the judiciary and Parliament are being trampled upon. Forcing extensions and taking over does not strengthen institutions; it makes them weaker,” Khan said.
Urging the people of Pakistan to stand up for themselves and protest peacefully, he said until there is a “‘Revolution of Justice’ in the country, democracy cannot prevail”.
“To bring about this revolution of justice, everyone must come forward. This is not an issue of any one person or party; it is a matter of Pakistan’s survival and integrity,” said the former premier, who has been in jail since August 2023 in multiple cases.
Earlier, the PTI claimed the Sharif-led government extended Gen Munir’s term out of fear of Khan. PTI MZ GRS GRS
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