President Dr Arif Alvi approved on Thursday the appointment of Lieutenant General Asim Munir as the next chief of army staf. Lt General Sahir Shamshad Mirza has been appointed as the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC).

By granting his assent to the summary sent by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the president turned off the rumour mills in the country and ended speculations surrounding this key development.

Earlier the government decided to appoint Lieutenant General Asim Munir as the next army chief. The decision was taken today (Thursday) in Islamabad in a special meeting of the Federal Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif

Following the coalition government’s decision, it sent a summary to appointing Lt General Asim Munir as the next army chief to President for Alvi.

After receiving the summary, the president then left for Lahore to meet PTI chief Imran Khan to consult over the appointment of the new army chief.

After the meeting Khawaja Asif said that the name had been decided but the names will be announced in a press release from the PM. the minsiter also said that that he hopes the president will not create a hurdle out of ‘political motivations’.

Our reporter Aimen Syed reports that federal ministers such as Bilawal Bhutto, Ishaq Dar, Sherry Rehman, Aminul Haq, Rana Sanaullah attended the meeting.

Test for Imran Khan?

All eyes are on President Arif Alvi after the government approved the name of the new COAS. It has already been specualted that his association with the PTI might lead to ‘hurdles’ in the appointment. Imran Khan has already said that the president will consult him over the appointment.

Khawaja Asif said that the situation is now a big test for Imran Khan: does he want to strengthen the institution or make it more controversial. He also said that President Alvi will have to decide if he wants act on political advice or constitutional advice.

Initial reactions to the appointment

Analyst Asma Shirazi said that this is the first time that the senior most officer has been appointed as the new chief, meaning the appointment has been made according to merit. “Imran Khan had stressed merit and I think that merit was followed,” Shirazi told Aaj TV.

She also added that with the government sending the names ahead, it is now a big test for President Arif Alvi, who is the supreme commander of the armed forces. “If he makes this controversial then it means he will be making his own command controversial.”

Analyst Shaukat Piracha told Aaj TV that Lt. Gen Asim Munir has an unblemished record and is known to be apolitical. “The time has come that if the army chief and army says for God’s sake keep us out of politics then politicians should celebrate this,” said Shoukat Paracha.

Lt General (r) Talat Masood told Aaj News that he thinks the president should not create a hurdle in the appointment. “It will be bad for the morale of the army if the President makes this decision problematic,” he said.

The run up to the announcement

Wednesday night Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa gave a speech at the Defence and Martyrs day ceremony which is held annually at the General Headquarters (GHQ) Rawalpindi on September 6 to commemorate the sacrifices of fallen heroes of the 1965 war. However, it was postponed this year in solidarity with flood victims across the country.

The Prime Minister Office said on Wednesday that it received the summary from the defence ministry with a panel of names for appointment of the chairman joint chiefs of staff committee (CJCSC) and chief of the army staff (COAS), as the next army chief is to take office on November 29 when the incumbent, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa hangs it up.

“The Prime Minister will take a decision on the appointments as per the laid down procedure,” it said in a tweet.

PM Shehbaz and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had an “important consultation” meeting regarding the appointment of the new army chief on Tuesday. Special Assistant to the PM Malik Ahmed Khan and the Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (DG ISI) were present in the meeting, source said.

PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari had also met with the premier at this critical juncture to discuss the overall political situation.

Earlier, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif in the wee hours of Wednesday said that the Prime Minister’s Office has received the summary from the defence ministry after the GHQ said that it forwarded the summary to it in a late night development on Tuesday.

“The summary was received from the Ministry of Defense in the Prime Minister’s Office. Inshallah, the rest of the steps will be completed soon.”

Asif told a private news channel on Tuesday that there was “no conflict” with the security institution over the army chief appointment.

“Procedure for selection of army chief would be completed in next two days,” he reiterated, adding that the PM would have a consultation with coalition partners. He expressed hope that the security institution would also have a discussion on this matter.

On PTI chief Imran Khan’s apparent “agitation” policy with the government on national issues, he said Imran has changed his mind and avoided creating trouble on security matters.

In a statement shared by the state-run PTV News on Twitter, Marriyum Aurangzeb said that a panel of names has been sent for appointment to the posts of CJCSC and COAS. “Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif will decide on these appointments according to the prescribed procedure,” she said.

The military sent the summary for top military appointments to the defence ministry, the General Headquarters said in a tweet. This had come after the two key federal members, Khawaja Asif and Marriyum Aurangzeb, denied such media reports in the day. They had urged the people to “refrain from speculation”.

“GHQ has forwarded the summary for Selection of CJCSC and COAS, containing names of 6 senior most Lt Gens to MoD,” the Inter-Services Public Relations director general said in a tweet.

The tweet did not mention which six names have been forwarded, it is believed that the six men currently in the running to be the next chief of army staff are Lt Gen Asim Munir (currently Quarter Master General), Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza (Commander 10 Corps), Lt Gen Azhar Abbas (Chief of General Staff), Lt Gen Nauman Mehmood (NDU President), Lt Gen Faiz Hamid (Commander Bahawalpur Corps), and Lt Gen Mohammad Amir (Commander Gujranwala Corps).

The procedure

How is the whole business of receiving and acting on summaries carried out? The answer is available in article 243 of the constitution, rules of business 1937 as well as the tradition of how things are done.

According to article 243(3) the president appoints the three services chiefs on the advice of the prime minister. The word advice was consultation, until it was changed in the 18th amendment. However, this still means that the president has to act on the PM’s advice.

Rules of business 1973 Schedule V-A says that all appointments of lieutenant general rank and above should be made through consultation between the president and prime minister. In practice however, the army chief decides who will be promoted to a three-star rank.

The summary sent by GHQ is not just the opinion of the army chief but also reflects the will of the entire army high command. The possibility that the absence of the summary will be ignored by the PM is slim at best.

Simply signing the summary is not the president’s only option. The president has to give the summary his approval within 10 days, but it can also be sent back if he finds an issue. In such a scenario, the summary will stay in the prime minister’s office for 15 more days.

Thus, the matter of the appointment can be delayed for up to 25 days in total, after the summary is first moved.

However, the fact that the president belongs to the PTI has the potential to create controversy. If PM Shehbaz Sharif, who belongs to the PML-N, decides to move ahead without receiving the army’s proposals and the president decides to return the summary, the whole process would grind to a halt.

There is only one example of a prime minister making such a decision without receiving a summary. In October 1999, the current PM’s elder brother tried to replace General Pervez Musharraf with Ziauddin Butt.