President Arif Alvi landed in Lahore on Thursday where he met Imran Khan. His departure came soon after the government announced that it had sent ahead a summary to appointing Lt General Asim Munir as the next army chief.
Alvi left Lahore’s Zaman Park after holding talks with the PTI chief over the crucial appointments of Lt Gen Asim Munir as the new Chief of Army Staff and Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza as the next Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.
The summary moved by the PM office will only come into effect after the approval of the president. Therefore, he has an important role to play in the coming days. This was hinted at by Khawaja Asif in a tweet earlier today.
The defence minister that this was a test for President Alvi ‘whether he acts of political advice or constitutional advice’.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has already said that the president will have to face consequences for any illegal actions. So what are the possibilities?
Following the president’s meeting with the former premier the former information minister and PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said that the President House would issue a handout at 7:00p.m which will share details of President Alvi’s meeting with Khan.
“Meeting between Imran Khan and President Alvi lasted 45 minutes. President Alvi has left for Islamabad,” Chaudhry said, adding that both discussed the constitutional, political, and legal issues on the army chief’s appointment.
Fawad has said that a handout of the meeting between Imran Khan and President Alvi will be issued today (Thursday). So what are the possibilities?
PTI Chairman Imran Khan has already said that the president will consult him when he receives the summary. When asked about the legality of such a consultation, he said that if things were being discussed with ‘absconder’ Nawaz Sharif, there is no harm if the president made a consultation with him.
According to the rules, the president has to give the summary his approval within 10 days, but it can also be sent back if he finds an issue. If sent back, the summary will stay in the prime minister’s office for 15 more days.
Thus, if the president wants, the matter of the appointment can be delayed for up to 25 days in total, after the summary is first moved.
If the president does opt for delay tactics, the key date to remember is November 27, when Lt General Asim Munir’s service ends.
Aaj News’ Naveed Akbar reported on Thursday that the government started planning to deal with president’s rejection of the summary immediately after it was moved.
It had been reported a few days earlier that the government was planning to change the the Army Act and the Rules of Business to allow it to ‘retain’ officers. However, the defence minister had clarified that no major changes were being planned.
According to reports these amendments have indeed been carried out and as a result, Lt General Asim Munir’s retirement has been ‘frozen’.
The government claims that even if the president returns the summary after the date of General Munir’s retirement, there will be no practical effect on the situation. The government believes that after this, even if the president delays the summary for 25 days, the chief will still be Lt Gen Munir.
