ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that the name of the new army chief will be announced by Wednesday (Nov 23) and from Monday, the process of selection of the COAS will be initiated.
Asif said that the change of command ceremony would take place on Nov 29.
Defence Minister said the COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa will retire on Nov 29 and he has ruled out an extension in his tenure.
Meanwhile, on Friday President Dr Arif Alvi said that he would endorse the Prime Minister’s decision of appointing the new army chief.
Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar met President Alvi and conveyed to him a message about the appointment of the new COAS and ending the deadlock on the country’s constitutional matters.
President Alvi also said that he will follow through with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s advice on the next army chief’s appointment.
“I do not have the legal authority to stop the prime minister’s advice; I have never interfered in state affairs,” President Alvi stressed.
Worth noting is that the appointment of new army chief has become a talk of the town and a tug of war between the ruling coalition and PTI. PTI chief Imran Khan has stepped back from his demand that coalition government was not capable of appointing army chief.
Now Khan said “they can appoint to whoever they want” _ ending controversy _ may be for the time being _ about the appointment of new army chief.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
