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- PM Shahbaz Will Appoint New Army Chief Before China Tour, 6 Names Are In The Race For Army Chief
IslamabadOne hour ago
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Pakistan will get a new army chief in November. Defense Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif gave this information. He said- Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif will appoint a new army chief in November. Who will be the new Army Chief will be decided after talks with PML-N party supremo Nawaz Sharif.
Recently, Imran Khan had claimed that Shahbaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari want to appoint their special someone as the army chief. In such a situation, the appointment of a new army chief should be left to the government to come after the elections. Only after this the statement of Defense Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif has come to the fore.
The current army chief of Pakistan, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, is due to retire in November this year.
Imran is making the appointment of Army Chief controversial
Asif said- Nawaz Sharif performed this responsibility 4 times. Now Shahbaz Sharif will do the same. The constitution has clear policies regarding the appointment of the army chief but Khan was trying to dispute it. They only want to surround the appointment of Army Chief in controversies. Politics is one side but institutions should not be made controversial.
Shahbaz will go on a tour of China
Defense Minister Asif said that after the appointment of the new army chief, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif will go on a visit to China. He said- Shahbaz Sharif will visit China in the first week of November at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jingping. During the bilateral meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on the sidelines of the SCO meeting, Xi Jinping had invited Shahbaz Sharif.
In the race for the new Army Chief, 6 names are appointed in the Pakistani Army, COAS (Chief of Army Staff) and CJCSC (Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee) are appointed simultaneously. For this, the generals who have got 4 star ranking claim.
Bajwa refused to take extension on the post of Army Chief
- The appointment of the army chief in Pakistan is for three years, but General Bajwa was given an additional three-year term in 2019 following political drama.
- Bajwa is considered to have an important role in getting power to Imran Khan’s party PTI, so Imran extended his tenure. Later the Supreme Court sought a law on the reappointment of serving chiefs.
- Parliament enacted legislation in January 2020, allowing the prime minister to extend the term of serving chiefs. However, it was also decided that at the age of 64, the serving chief would have to retire at any cost. The current Army Chief General Bajwa is only 61 years old. They could have taken an extension if they wanted.
- It has been made clear by Pakistani military sources that Bajwa will retire in November. The media wing of the Pakistan Army, ie Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), has also made it clear that the Army Chief is retiring.
