Pakistan Parliament Extends Armed Forces Chiefs’ Job Tenure

(Bloomberg) -- Pakistan’s parliament voted to extend the job tenures of the heads of the country’s armed forces to five years from three amid a spike in militant violence.

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Lawmakers from the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif voted in both houses of parliament — the National Assembly and the Senate — for amendments which also waived the retirement age and service limits for the three forces chiefs, according to approved drafts released by the assembly.

The legislation came just a year before the scheduled retirement of Pakistan’s army chief General Asim Munir, who has also been involved in the country’s economic matters. Pakistan’s powerful military has ruled the nation for about half of its 72-year history and controls its security and foreign policies.

In first nine months of this year, militant attacks increased by 47% to 717 and killed 834 people in Pakistan, according to data compiled by Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies.

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