Who will lead the army next?

 ISLAMABAD: it'll shortly be time for the govt. to form what's likely to be one in all the foremost tough selections of its term: the selection of the new commander of Pakistan's army.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif might begin talking concerning the appointment by the tip of August and should decide by the center of Sep, per a senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader WHO may be a member of the federal cupboard.


The prevailing agreement is that he can obtain recommendation from his coalition partners before creating a call.Though it's the prime minister's exclusive right to choose, a supply among the Pakistan Peoples Party expressed that the party might not need to get involved.

The president chooses the services heads in accordance with Article 243(3) of the Constitution and therefore the prime minister's suggestion.

In accordance with Schedule V-A of the foundations of Business, that details the cases that has got to be approved by the prime minister, "the appointment of, and higher than the rank of, lieutenant-general within the army and equivalent ranks within the different Defence Services are going to be created by the prime minister in consultation The method this procedure issue, however, is a smaller amount expressly made public within the regulation books. except for the essential want that the overall chosen to guide the military ought to have crystal rectifier a corps, no specific needs are set forth for thought for elevation.

General Headquarters (GHQ) generally offers the Ministry of Defence a listing of the four to 5 senior-most lieutenant-generals, beside their personnel files, that the prime minister will select the officer he believes is best acceptable the position.

Although it's attainable for the military ministry to examine the names before handing them to the prime minister, this seldom happens, and therefore the ministry basically is a post workplace.with the president."
The method this procedure issue, however, is a smaller amount expressly made public within the regulation books. except for the essential want that the overall chosen to guide the military ought to have crystal rectifier a corps, no specific needs are set forth for thought for elevation.

General Headquarters (GHQ) generally offers the Ministry of Defence a listing of the four to 5 senior-most lieutenant-generals, beside their personnel files, that the prime minister will select the officer he believes is best acceptable the position.


Although it's attainable for the military ministry to examine the names before handing them to the prime minister, this seldom happens, and therefore the ministry basically is a post workplace.
Then, either within the cupboard or within the Prime Minister's workplace, the generals' credentials square measure mentioned. It all boils right down to the prime minister's "informal consultation" with the outbound army chief, his personal opinions, and his conversations together with his nighest advisers.

Astute observers additionally check with a "institutional recommendation" that's created to the prime minister concerning a particular candidate. This assertion, however, has been refuted by a minimum of 2 former defence secretaries .They are sure that the retiring army chief is the only person who could personally express his opinion during his "informal consultation" with the prime minister.

Five of the 10 army commanders the state has had since 1972 were picked by the incumbent's older brother, Mian Nawaz Sharif, in separate appointments.
The elder Sharif received criticism for choosing policemen WHO he viewed as a "apna banda" time and time once more (his man). curiously, none of the appointments went well for him.

According to reports, the Sharifs currently feel that they'll ne'er totally grasp right. per bound PML-N leaders WHO participated in background checks, they need therefore basically determined to nominate somebody primarily based solely on seniority instead of giving in to the need to find the "perfect" candidate.


Then, regardless of however things manifest itself, we are going to a minimum of be happy that there have been no personal selections created, one party leader further.
Another faction among the party, however, believes that PM Shehbaz Sharif may simply follow the current leader's recommendations.

Leaving the case

Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, the Chief of Army employees (COAS), was appointed in 2016 and can step down throughout the ultimate week of November. The appointment of the military head is for a amount of 3 years, but following some political commotion in 2019, Gen. Bajwa was awarded a further three-year tenure. He had received Associate in Nursing extension from the then-prime minister Imran Khan in August, however the Supreme Court later needed legislation concerning the reappointment of the heads of the services. In Jan 2020, Parliament united, giving the prime minister power to prolong the terms of services chiefs. However, the law had set sixty four because the minimum age which Associate in Nursing operational commander should retire

Gen. Bajwa, who is still 61 years old, is therefore qualified for another term. Due to this technicality, it had been assumed that the incumbent might be looking for or interested in another extension. Gen Bajwa has, however, informed those close to him that he will retire in November, a military source claims. The chief is indeed retiring, as has already been confirmed by Inter-Services Public Relations. In addition to the army chief's position becoming vacant in November, other four-star positions will as well.

At the same time, Gen. Nadeem Raza, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), would also retire. The simultaneous appointment of two four-star generals provides the administration with a certain amount of leeway to choose an army commander without raising too many eyebrows among the top hierarchy.
It's interesting to note that four of the six senior lieutenant-generals at the time of Gen. Bajwa's retirement are from the same batch. The seniority of this group is established on a technical basis, i.e. through the PA number given to them during their training at the PMA, and may or may not matter when the new CJCSC and COAS are selected. The other two are split into two groups, one of which is roughly superior than the others overall.

Lt Gen Asim Munir

Lt-Gen Asim Munir will be the senior member of the group when the choice is made for the new CJCSC and COAS. He was given the two-star general rank in September 2018, but he didn't take over until two months later. Since the current CJCSC and COAS will be taking off their army uniforms on November 27, his four-year term as Lt-Gen would come to an end then. Gen. Bajwa will decide whether his name should be included in the list because the suggestions and decisions for the appointment of the two four-star generals will be made a little sooner. The prime minister will then make the final choice. Despite the fact that he is an excellent office. He might continue to be the proverbial dark horse given the complexities involved. He might continue to be the proverbial dark horse given the complexities involved.
Lt. Gen. Munir was commissioned into the Frontier Force Regiment after attending the Officers Training School (OTS) programme at Mangla to join the military. Since he served as a brigadier commander for Gen Bajwa, who was then Commander X Corps, at the Force Command Northern Areas, he has been a close assistant to the current COAS. Later, in early 2017, he was named director general of military intelligence. The following year, in October, he was named director general of ISI. Though he was replaced by Lt. Gen. Faiz Hamid after only eight months at the request of the then-prime minister Imran Khan, his tenure as the senior intelligence officer ended up being the shortest in history. For two years, he served as the commander of the Gujranwala Corps after being appointed there moved as the Quartermaster General to the GHQ.

Lt. Gen. Mirza

The oldest of the four candidates from the same batch in the current cohort is Lt. Gen. Mirza. He is a member of the same family regiment as Gen. Nadeem Raza, the outgoing CJCSC, the Sindh Regiment. His military career has been excellent, especially during the last seven years in high leadership roles. During the latter two years of Gen. Raheel Sharif's administration, Lt. Gen. Mirza rose to prominence as DGMO. He was a member of Gen. Sharif's core staff at GHQ while he served in that capacity, and they oversaw the military campaign against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other terrorists in North Waziristan. Furthermore, he played a key role in the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG), which mediated discussions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, China, the United States, and other countries.

After being promoted to the three-star rank, he was named chief of general staff, thereby elevating him to the post of army's second-in-command behind the COAS. In such role, he actively took part in key decisions that had an impact on both foreign policy and national security. Alongside former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, he took part in 2021 strategic meetings with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

In October 2021, he was given the responsibility of Corps Commander Rawalpindi so that he could get operational experience and become eligible for the top posts.


A military insider commented on his background and said that he was the clear favorite for either of the two positions of COAS or CJCSC.

Lt Gen Abbas

The current brass member with the most knowledge of Indian issues is Lt. Gen. Abbas. As chief of general staff (CGS), he currently commands the army and has complete authority over the intelligence and operations directorates at GHQ.

He formerly oversaw the politically significant and Rawalpindi-based X Corps, which shows that the current army chief has great faith in him. Lt-Gen Abbas' responsibility was to guarantee that the 2003 ceasefire agreement along the LOC was abided by. It was during his tenure as commander of the X Corps that the Indian and Pakistani forces came to this accord.
Lt. Gen. Abbas was formerly the Infantry School's commandant in Quetta. He had a front-row seat to the highest-level decision-making processes because he served as Gen Raheel Sharif's personal staff officer, the former head of the army. During that time, he was also able to communicate with the PML-N's top officials and those of friendly nations. Following that, he oversaw the 12th Infantry Division in Murree, from which he was in charge of Azad Jammu & Kashmir.

Lt Gen Nauman Mahmood

Lt. Gen. Mehmood, a member of the Baloch Regiment, is the current president of the National Defence University. He has extensive experience working as the chief instructor at the Quetta Command and Staff College. His infantry division was based in North Waziristan. He was then appointed director-general (Analysis) at the ISI, where he played a significant role in analysing foreign policy from the standpoint of national security. In that position, he had the chance to communicate with foreign intelligence services on behalf of the ISI.He was named the GHQ's inspector-general of Communications & Information Technology upon his ascension to three-star general status in 2019. He was assigned to the XI Corps, stationed in Peshawar, in December 2019. He then handled border fence and security along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border during the US military withdrawal.

He transferred control of the XI Corps to Lt. Gen. Faiz Hamid in November 2021.

Lt. Gen Faiz Hameed

Among the candidates for the top job, Lt. Gen. Hamid is one of the most talked-about candidates and is also a member of the Baloch Regiment. According to reports, Gen. Bajwa and Lt. Gen. Hamid are well acquainted. Under Gen Bajwa, who was in charge of the X Corps at the time, Lt-Gen Hamid served as the brigadier general's chief of staff.

Lt-Gen Hamid, a two-star general who oversaw an infantry division in Pano Aqil, Sindh, at the time Gen Bajwa was named COAS, was the COAS. He was appointed director-general (Counter-Intelligence) at ISI shortly after being promoted to army commander, where he was in charge of both political and internal security matters.
In April 2019, he was initially named adjutant-general at the GHQ following his promotion to the three-star rank. But in a shocking decision, he was named DG ISI just two months later

Gen Hamid actively supported the government in that capacity on matters as diverse as renegotiating contracts with IPPs in the power sector, improving governance, and recovering the economy, among others.
The COAS decided to place him as commander of the Peshawar Corps, and Imran Khan was unwilling to release him, which led to a dispute during the final stages of his tenure as head of the ISI. Before being transferred to the Bahawalpur Corps, he was eventually deployed to Peshawar, where he stayed for less than a year.

Given how widely-publicized his position as ISI chief during the previous administration was, some political analysts claim it may be difficult, if not impossible, for the PML-N leadership to consider him for the position of the next COAS.

Lt Gen Mohammad Amir

Currently in Gujranwala, Lt. Gen Amir . The commander of the XXX Corps is Amir, a member of the Artillery Regiment. He is regarded as Gen Bajwa's trusted advisor. He had previously served as the GHQ's adjutant-general. He oversaw the 10 Infantry Division stationed in Lahore from 2017 to 2018 in his capacity as a major-general. He has also held the position of director-general Staff Duties in the COAS Secretariat, which has given him extensive experience in GHQ and command roles. Prior to it, he served as President Asif Zardari's military secretary from 2011 until 2013.