ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will forward a summary to the president Dr. Arif Alvi recommending the appointment of the new Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee (CJCSC) on November 18.
Lieutenant General Asim Munir, Lieutenant General Azhar Abbas, Lieutenant General Sahir Shamshad, Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, and Lieutenant General Muhammad Aamir are contenders for the posts of COAS and CJCSC.
If the Prime Minister decides to promote Lt Gen Asim Munir before his retirement date on November 27, his promotion will start from the day the Prime Minister appoints him as the new Army Chief. The incumbent army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, is set to retire on November 29, 2022.
Sources informed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has consulted with allies in the ruling coalition regarding the key appointments. According to Article 243(3) of the Constitution, the President appoints the Chiefs of Services on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
The term of Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa will be completed on 29 November 2022, while he has announced not to extend his second three-year term as army chief as he is scheduled to retire from service. General Bajwa had discussed the issue of his extension during a luncheon at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington during his visit to America that he would not extend his tenure any further.
Earlier in April, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lt. General Babar Iftikhar made it clear that General Bajwa neither wanted nor would accept an extension. This statement by ISPR came out during a press conference a few days after Imran Khan was removed from the post of Prime Minister through a vote of no confidence.
A summary is also prepared by the defense authorities, which contains the names of three-star generals for appointment to the most senior positions of the army. It is the prerogative of the Prime Minister to appoint among the senior generals as the Army Chief and whom the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee appoints. The Prime Minister has consulted his brother Nawaz Sharif regarding the appointment of the new Army Chief. During this presser, the head of the army’s media wing also claimed that the military is “apolitical.” The appointment of the army chief was sometimes cited as an important subplot in the ongoing political crisis in the country, which started earlier this year after a no-confidence motion against the then Prime Minister Imran Khan. However, the army expressed displeasure over the PTI chief’s remarks in September, saying it resented “defamatory and unnecessary” statements about its senior leadership.
