ISLAMABAD : Nov 21, 2022: Finally , Pakistan is going to announce its new army chief in next 48 hours.
Sources privy to developments and discussions taking place in power corridors for appointment of the new army chief told NEWSMAN on condition of anonymity that Prime Minister House had received summary for appointment of the new army chief through ministry of Defence (MoD) on November 18,2022 and it was followed by series of meetings among various party leaders who are part of the Shahbaz government.
Sources said on the basis of top level discussions , the prime minister held a final meeting to give final considerations to the names referred by the MoD for appointment of the new army chief here on (Monday).
After closing discussion with Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leadership , the prime minister is likely to take a final decision and approve appointment of the new army chief in today’s meeting.
The prime minister will send his pick to the president for his endorsement. The president will endorse the appointment of the new army chief and send back the file to the prime minister office for notification and formal announcement of the new army chief .
Since appointment of the new army chief is extremely sensitive matter ,. none of the leaders of the ruling alliance divulges any specific details of the consultative meetings .
One can go back to the past to get an idea who among top military generals might have made to the summary sent by the ministry of Defence (MoD ) to the prime minister office for appointment of the new army chief .
Pakistan always follow a set process for appointment of the new army chief . As retirement of the incumbent army chief nears, the ministry of Defence (MOD) sends a summary to the Prime Minister Office containing names of four and in some cases five top contenders for the post. The prime minister picks one name out of top four or five names and send the approved name to the president for endorsement for appointment of the new army chief .
This time too the same procedure has been followed .
Like the past the summary sent by the MOD would have names of five top Lt. generals and the prime minister will pick one name out of the list. Probably , five top Lt. generals whose names might have appeared in the summary could include Gen Asim Munir, Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza , Gen . Azhar Abbas , Lt Gen Faiz Hameed and Lt Gen Noman . According to some media reports , Lt Gen Amir’s name might have also been listed in the summary as a contender for the slot of COAS.
Next chief would be 17th top general of Pakistan army . Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa is retiring as COAS and he was 16th top general of Pakistan army.
Gen Bajwa had become COAS in 2016. After having done his first tenure he was accorded another another full term and now after completing his second term, Gen Bajwa is retiring on November 29,2022.
Although Pakistan always face tough question on the appointment of its army chief, but this time it has become the most difficult rather controversial question.
The political leadership of Pakistan has made the appointment of the new army chief controversial with a purpose . The purpose of linking appointment of the new army chief could be to drag this institution into the fray of poltiics and then keep attacking it with a purpose to weaken it. Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) is at the top to make the appointment of the new army chief controversial . PTI chief , Imran Khan, is utilising his maximum energy to make the appointment of the new army chief controversial . Imran Khan’s rants in public rallies on the top military generals suggests he was making the appointment of the new army chief controversial on purpose.
Leaving behind who is who in making the appointment of the new army chief controversial , the process of the new army chief ‘s appointment is going forward as per original plan of the MoD.
“I think entire process for appointment of the new army chief will complete in next 24 hours and a final announcement to this effect is likely to be made in next 48 hours”, the sources concluded .
.