Pakistan Stocks Drop After Court Suspends Army Chief’s Extension
Army chief Bajwa’s new term was due to start on Nov. 28.
(Bloomberg) -- Pakistan’s stocks dropped after the Supreme Court suspended a government order granting a three-year term extension to current army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, in an apparent stand-off between two of the nation’s most powerful institutions.
The Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa, who heads the three-member panel of justices, on Tuesday suspended Prime Minister Imran Khan’s August order, Shahid Hussain, a spokesman for the court said over the phone. The court will resume hearing the matter on Wednesday when the government and army will state their position, he said.
The stocks dropped as much as 1.5 percent, before paring losses to 0.4 percent in Karachi.
Local television channels reported that the court suspended the prime minister’s order on “procedural grounds,” because it should have been issued by President Arif Alvi and not Khan.
The stocks fell in a “knee jerk reaction,” said Faisal Bilwani, head of international sales at Alfalah CLSA Securities, in Karachi. “This move will significantly increase the political noise.”
Bajwa’s extension has been criticized by Pakistan’s opposition parties, who accuse the powerful military of intervening in politics and helping Khan’s Tehreek-i-Insaf party win the 2018 national elections. Bajwa is believed to have increased the army’s role in politics, foreign affairs and security policy and he has been meeting business leaders in Pakistan to shore up investment. The army, which has ruled Pakistan for almost half of its 72-year history, denies the allegation of interfering in politics.
Bajwa’s new term was due to start on Nov. 28.
To contact the reporters on this story: Faseeh Mangi in Karachi at fmangi@bloomberg.net;Kamran Haider in Islamabad at khaider2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Arijit Ghosh at aghosh@bloomberg.net, Khalid Qayum, Muneeza Naqvi
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