The appointments of institution heads are a routine task in the world, however, in Pakistan, it takes days for the decision-makers to stick to a single name and especially if it is the army chief. It gives room to speculations and apprehensions, just like the PTI raised on Sunday.
“You are seeing, an important appointment has to be made and the discussion is being held in London instead of Pakistan, with those who have no role constitutionally,” PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Sunday in reaction to the prolonged stay of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in London where he is discussing the appointment of next army chief with his brother Nawaz Sharif since November 9.
So far, according to the PML-N nothing has been finalised. The next chief of the army staff (COAS) is to take office on November 29, when the incumbent Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa hangs it up. He visited Lahore Garrison on Saturday as part of his farewell meetings.
Many believed that Imran’s long march, which kicked off from Lahore’s Liberty Chowk on October 28, was aimed at influencing the decision for the appointment of the next COAS. However, such a rumour was put to rest for the time being when the PTI chief in a talk with senior journalists said that he does not see any problem if the appointment is made by the Shehbaz-led government.
Qureshi in his press conference in Gujrat ahead of the party’s ‘Azadi March’ shared the itinerary of the PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s decision pertaining to the COAS slot while in power.
“In 1991 when he makes the appointment, so General Asif Nawaz Janjua is at the second number on the seniority list, in 1993 when he makes the appointment then General Abdul Fahim Kakar is in fifth place on the seniority list, in 1998 when he makes an appointment then Gen Pervez Musharraf is at the third number, in 2013 when he makes the decision then Gen Raheel Sharif is at the third number on the seniority list and when he makes the decision in 2016 so Gen Qamar Bajwa is at fourth place on the seniority list.”
The PTI leader wondered whether the prevailing “tension” and “uncertainty” were in the country’s interest. “We have to see why the incumbent leadership of PML-N is leading the country towards a crisis.”
He reiterated his party’s demand for snap elections to end the apparent political instability while accusing the “London meetings” of the prevailing political situation. The former foreign minister called for following Constitution and the seniority level.
“These delays and gaps are not a good sign,” he warned.
PTI chief Imran Khan would address party workers at 7:30pm via video link at Kharian.
