— PM asks Defence Ministry to send list of senior-most officers for the crucial pick
— Asif criticises media for speculating on summary moved by GHQ
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday asked the ministry of defence to commence the process of appointment of new Chief of Army Staff (COAS) by moving a summary of the much-anticipated list of five senior-most generals to choose a new chief, it emerged on Monday.
Under the Standard Operating Procedure (SoP), it is the GHQ which initiates the process by moving a summary to the ministry of defence containing a list of senior-most officers of the army and the defence ministry sends it to the PM Office for making a formal decision.
However, the PM took initiative on Monday to set the ball rolling as the PM Office did not receive a summary till Monday.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told the National Assembly on Monday evening that the process of making appointments to the top slots of the Pakistan Army had begun and the General Headquarters (GHQ) Rawalpindi had already been informed about the PM’s letter.
Speaking in a session of the National Assembly, Asif said his ministry has received the prime minister’s letter about initiating the process for the next army chief’s appointment. This comes on heels of media speculations that the GHQ had already sent a summary to the PM’s office through the ministry of defence – though it is not the case.
Furthermore, Asif said that the PM’s letter was communicated to the GHQ as well.
Asif said there was a state of “unrest” now that the process for the appointment was initiated.
“It’s possible that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow or two days later or three days later this whole process will reach its completion and this unrest will subside,” he asserted.
The defence minister criticised the media for contributing to the charged atmosphere by speculating about whether the summary of the army chief candidates was sent or not but not bothering to verify the information.
Asif said the process was being treated as if it was the only issue in the country today and nothing else.
“This distress is at a time when our economy is weak and we can’t stand on our feet. Hopefully, our effort is that this process passes so we can go towards stability,” he said, hoping that this threshold of the appointment would be crossed in the next two to three days.
The probables
The probable list of five senior-most lieutenant generals may include Asim Munir, Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Azhar Abbas, Nauman Mehmood, and Faiz Hameed. While one of the men will enter the shoes of Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, the outgoing army chief, the other will chair the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC).
Only on rare occasions has the baton been passed to someone outside the top four most senior officers in an army that, with just under a million personnel in 2019, was the sixth largest in the world.
An army chief’s tenure is for three years, but they often obtain extensions, as did Gen. Bajwa in 2019.
Earlier in the day, Khawaja Asif tweeted about the commencement of the process of making appointments to the top office of the Pakistan Army. The process would be completed soon in line with all constitutional requirements, he tweeted.
پاک فوج کے اعلیٰ ترین عہدوں پہ تقرری کا عمل آج شروع ھو چکا ھے انشاءاللہ جلد تماتر آئینی تقاضوں کیمطابق تکمیل ھو جاۓگا.
— Khawaja M. Asif (@KhawajaMAsif) November 21, 2022
According to Article 243-3 of the Constitution, the president appoints all service chiefs on the recommendation of the prime minister who may consult his aides but he solely has the power to make the appointment.
The appointment of chiefs of the navy and air force goes unnoticed but it is not the case with the nomination of the army chief. The guessing game starts months before the end of the tenure of the incumbent.
A meeting was reportedly held at the PM’s office to discuss the appointment of next army chief and the reports said that Asif, Rana Sanaullah Khan and Ayaz Sadiq attended.
Once Sharif approves the names for the two offices, the list will be forwarded to the President’s Secretariat for ratification. Following his approval, it will be sent back to the PMO for a formal announcement.
With the current army chief, Gen. Bajwa, set to retire on November 29, the appointment of his successor has prompted a new set of challenges, especially amidst an economic crisis and climate catastrophe.
Pakistan is in the midst of another bout of political uncertainty as Imran Khan, the former prime minister, has led country-wide protests in an attempt to force his successor, Shehbaz Sharif, into early elections.
The incoming army chief could potentially play a key role in lowering the political temperature as Pakistan attempts to survive the economic and climate crises.
BAJWA’S LEGACY
Appointed chief in 2016, Gen. Bajwa sought to balance ties with China and the United States. While Islamabad moved closer to Beijing, Bajwa also worked to thaw relations with Washington, with whom he worked closely during the evacuation of Kabul in 2021 when western forces pulled out of Afghanistan.
He also took an active interest in economic matters, and made highly-publicised visits to Beijing and the Middle East — helping to secure financial assistance for Pakistan. Recently, he also lobbied Washington to help strike a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
He even summoned the nation’s top industrialists to a meeting at General Headquarters (GHQ) to encourage them to pay more taxes.
During his tenure, Pakistan and India fought air skirmishes in 2019, but he was a public proponent of better ties and avoided escalation when tensions ran high, such as when an Indian missile accidentally crashed into Pakistan early this year.
In early 2021, Gen. Bajwa sanctioned a restoration of a ceasefire agreement with Delhi in the disputed region of Kashmir.
— With input from Reuters
