Countdown begins for appointment of new army chief
The defence minister said last week that the process of the new army chief's appointment will start on Monday and is expected to be concluded on November 29.
As per Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s timeframe, the countdown has begun for the appointment of the new army chief today.
However, sources told News 360, Nawaz Sharif is not satisfied with the names that have been sent to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, while talking to Geo News last week, said that the process of appointing the new army chief will start on Monday. He also confirmed that the name of the new army chief will be revealed this week and the appointment will be made on November 29.
In response to a question, Khawaja Mohammad Asif said that since the weekend is coming, the process of appointing the new army chief will be restarted from Monday.
He said that under a process, five names will be sent by the Pakistan Army to the defence ministry and the ministry will forward the summary to PM Shehbaz Sharif. However, the Prime Minister will definitely hold consultations prior to the finalisation of the appointment, he clarified.
Asif said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan is trying to make the appointment of the army chief controversial so Finance Minister Ishaq Dar met President Dr Arif Alvi regarding the appointment. The defence minister expressed hope that he will play his constitutional role.
It should be noted that PTI central leader Fawad Chaudhry had said in his tweet earlier regarding the appointment of the new army chief that the president of the state will fulfil his constitutional responsibility in the key appointment. He announced that whatever step the president takes will get the full support of Imran Khan.
However, sources told News 360 that PM Shehbaz Sharif has been given two names by General Headquarters (GHQ) on which reservations were raised by PML-N Supremo Nawaz Sharif.
Sources added PM Sharif paid the London visit in this connection. However, Asif termed PM’s visit a private visit and denied the news of consultation regarding the army chief’s appointment.
