Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday appointed Lt General Asim Munir as the Chief of Army Staff and Lt General Sahir Shamshad Mirza as the new chairman joint chiefs of staff committee.
Maryam Aurangzeb tweeted Sharif’s decision to name Lt Gen Asim Munir as the new army chief, shortly after the premier presided over a crucial Cabinet meeting in Islamabad. Munir would replace retiring army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
“PM of Pakistan Shahbaz Sharif has decided to appoint Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Lt Gen Syed Asim Munir as the Chief of the Army Staff,” Marriyum Aurangzeb, Pakistan Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting said.
Both officers have also been promoted to four-star generals. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that the “advice” had been forwarded to President Arif Alvi, adding that all matters had been settled according to the law and the Constitution.
General Qamar Javed Bajwa, 61, is scheduled to retire on November 29 after a three-year extension. He has ruled out seeking another extension.
Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza had been picked as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC).
Earlier, the Pakistan Army had sent the names of six top lieutenant generals- Lt Gen Asim Munir (then Quarter Master General), Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza (Commander 10 Corps), Lt Gen Azhar Abbas (Chief of General Staff), Lt Gen Nauman Mehmood (National Defence University President), Lt Gen Faiz Hamid (Commander Bahawalpur Corps) and Lt Gen Mohammad Amir (Commander Gujranwala Corps) for the appointments.
There has been extraordinary interest in the appointment of Bajwa’s successor as many believe ousted prime minister Imran Khan’s long march is linked to the change of command in the Army. He has asked his supporters to gather in Rawalpindi on November 26, two days before Gen Bajwa hands over the baton to the new Army chief.
Shehbaz Sharif hopeful of smooth transition
The summary of appointments made by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has been sent to the President Arif Alvi. The Shehbaz Sharif government is hopeful of a smooth transition and that the President will approve of the appointment of the army chief, top government sources have told CNN-News18.
However, it was not clear whether Alvi will immediately approve the appointments, as he is a former member of the country’s opposition leader Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
“We are hopeful that the procedure and transition will be done smoothly,” the sources said.
Under the constitution, the president may stretch the appointment of the army chief for 25 days.
But, the federal government has other options in case the president delays. It has the authority to appoint the vice chief of army staff (VCOAS) and there is no requirement of the president’s approval for this purpose, they added.
All About New Army Chief
Lt Gen Munir entered the service via the Officers Training School programme and was commissioned into the Frontier Force Regiment. He has been a close aide of Gen Bajwa ever since he commanded troops in the Force Command Northern Areas as a brigadier under the outgoing army chief, who was then Commander X Corps.
Lt Gen Munir was later appointed Military Intelligence director general in early 2017, and in October next year was made the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief.
However, his stint as the top intelligence officer turned out to be the shortest ever, as he was replaced by Lt Gen Faiz Hamid within eight months, on the insistence of then-PM Imran Khan.
He was posted as Gujranwala Corps commander, a position he held for two years, before being moved to the General Headquarters as the quartermaster general.
(With inputs from PTI)
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