Govt moves to name new army chief this week
ISLAMABAD – The Prime Minister’s Office is expected to move summary for the appointments of new army chief and chairman joint chiefs of the staff committee this week after developing consensus among coalition partners on the names for said appointments.
High level consultations and behind the scene talks continued even on weekend on one of the most challenging appointments by the government of the new chief of army staff (COAS) and chairman joint chiefs of staff committee (CJCSC) .
Since Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is in isolation due to Covid-19, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is holding crucial talks with coalition partners and the presidency on behalf of the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Ishaq Dar already held a long meeting with President Arif Alvi on Friday and took him into confidence on the name of the next army chief and legal process involved for the summary of the high profile appointments. Sources indicated that talks would continue and a decision may be taken on the next working day through consultations between government and military leadership. According to the sources, the president was requested by the finance minister to immediately sign the summary of the Prime Minister’s Office in this regard.
Highly credible sources told The Nation that President Alvi assured that he would follow due constitutional and legal process for the appointment of the army chief and would not delay the signing of the summary, if received from the PM’s office in accordance with the legal procedure.
However, still differences are reported between the PM’s Office and establishment on the name of the army chief. Sources said the establishment conveyed it to the government that due to the retirement of Lt Gen Asim Munir which is due on 27th November, he could not be considered for the post of the army chief. However, the government wanted to make his appointment early in order to avoid the technical hurdle.
Meanwhile, in the background meeting with top security officials, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had conveyed the name of Lt Gen Asim Munir, which according to the sources was rejected on the technical ground following his due retirement on 27th November. Other names of the senior most army officers, being considered for both of the positions of COAS and CJCSC, are (seniority list) Lt Gen Asim Munir (Quarter Master General at GHQ), Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza( currently Commander 10 Corps of Pakistan army), Lt Gen Azhar Abbas,(currently Chief Of General Staff), Lt Gen Nauman Mehmood(President National Defence University) , Lt Gen Faiz Hamid (Commander Bahawalpur Corps) and Lt Gen Muhammad Amir(Corps Commander Gujranwala). When contacted ,former defence secretary lieutenant general(retd) Asif Yasin Malik confirmed that any three-star officer(Lt Gen), who is due to retire a day or two days before the date of the appointment of the army chief, could not be considered for the post of army chief.
Article source: https://www.nation.com.pk/21-Nov-2022/govt-moves-to-name-new-army-chief-this-week