As the deadline for the retirement of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa approaches, Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif stated that the PML-N does not have a preferred candidate in mind for the position.
When asked about reports of a deadlock between PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari over the name of the next army chief, the defence minister told journalists outside the parliament that consultations over the appointment had not yet taken place, so there was no question of a deadlock.
In response to media inquiries, Khawaja Asif was reported by APP as stating, “The process for the selection of a new COAS will begin on November 18-19, and the Pakistan Army will share nominees.”
Asif, taking a jab at PTI head Imran Khan, stated that legal action should be taken against the former prime minister’s recent utterances because he was using national interests for his gain.
In the meantime, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has criticized the government and the opposition for engaging in pointless politics in choosing a new army commander.
Bilawal told the media after addressing a program at the Ojha Campus of Dow University of Health Sciences in Karachi that the new army chief should be appointed by the method outlined in the Constitution and the nation’s law.
Bilawal stated, “I want none of our partners ever to make demands about this topic during a public speech, and I don’t want anybody from the opposition to make this matter excessively controversial for political gain.”
Instead of excessively arguing such matters, the PPP chairman stated that national priorities and interests should be centered on resolving the people’s actual concerns.
“The same sort of action would also assist defuse the current political polarization in the country,” he added.
He stated that the nomination of the army chief had dominated the politics of the Khan from the beginning to the present.
“We must abandon this attitude for the benefit of Pakistan’s democratic system and people,” he urged.
When questioned if the PPP has provided any names to the government for the nomination of the new army commander, Bilawal reaffirmed his position that the Constitution and the law should select the next chief of the army staff.
