ISLAMABAD: According to notifications released on Friday morning, the federal government has selected General Sahir Shamshad Mirza to serve as the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee (CJCSC), while General Asim Munir will take over as the next chief of army staff.
Pakistan’s government announces General Asim Munir as the new army chief.
President Arif Alvi approved the brief to nominate both of the top military leaders on Thursday evening. This ended a long period of uncertainty about important military appointments.
As a direct consequence of this development, the notifications issued by the Ministry of Defense state that the current CJCSC General Nadeem Raza would hang up his boots on November 27 and that the COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa will retire on November 29.
“In exercise of powers conferred by Article 243(4)(b) of the Constitution read with Section 8A of Pakistan Army Act 1952, the president, on the advice of the prime minister, is pleased to approve the promotion of PA-25031 Lieutenant General Syed Asim Munir to the rank of General with immediate effect and his appointment as Chief of the Army Staff for a period of three years with effect from November 29, 2022,” a notification stated.
The president of Pakistan is pleased to approve the promotion of
After their nominations to high-ranking roles, both of the senior military officers met with Prime Minister Shehbaz and President Alvi. The officials from the government expressed their best wishes for them as they took on their new roles.
The lack of assurance
Even though the president gave his approval of the appointment summary last evening, there was still some ambiguity over the situation since the vice president did not sign the document immediately after the president submitted it to him.
In the same time as the prime minister was sending the summary to the president, he departed Islamabad for Lahore to meet with PTI Chairman Imran Khan at Zaman Park to discuss the issue.
In an interview that took place on Wednesday night, Khan had said that he and President Alvi will play “legally and constitutionally” on the topic. As a result, everyone’s attention was focused on the meeting.
The president eventually departed for Islamabad after the lengthy conversation, and PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry announced that the President’s House will publish a statement on his meeting with the PTI head. This remark, together with the previous one, gave birth to rumors and suspicions.
Despite this, the president gave the summary his stamp of approval by the evening without any additional complications, and he also met with both of the military leaders later in the day.
Gen Asim Munir – a short profile
After graduating from the Mangala Officers Training School, General Asim Munir became a commissioned officer in the Frontier Force Regiment of the Pakistan Army. He had previously served in the Pakistan Army.
After serving as the brigade commander of the Northern Areas Force, he was promoted to the position of director-general of the Military Intelligence at the beginning of 2017. In 2018, he was given the position as director-general of the Inter-Services Intelligence organisation (ISI).
After this, he was given the position of Corps Commander in Gujranwala for a period of two years. At the moment, he is working his way up the ranks to become the Quarter Master at the General Headquarters (GHQ).
He will make history as the first army commander to have led both the Military Intelligence and the ISI. In addition to this, General Munir will be the very first army chief to be presented with the Sword of Honor.
A succinct introduction to General Sahir Shamshad Mirza
The current Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Raheel Sharif, appointed Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza, a native of the Sindh Regiment, to serve as the director-general of military operations.
Gen. Mirza was also a member of the coordination committee that monitored the discussions with Afghanistan and directed the operations against militants in North Waziristan.
In addition to that, he was a participant in the Gilgit-Baltistan Reforms Committee. Mirza was promoted to the rank of general and then given the position of Chief of the General Staff. At the moment, he is acting in the capacity of Corps Commander in Rawalpindi.
A multitude of hypotheses
Since the tabling of the motion of no confidence in Khan in April, the issue of the appointment of the army chief has become increasingly contentious. This is because the matter of the appointment is crucial in the current political scenario, in which Khan is attempting to return to power in opposition to the ruling coalition.
On August 19, 2019, the then-prime minister Khan granted the outgoing COAS Bajwa a three-year extension in service, allowing him to remain in his position beyond the date that was originally scheduled for his retirement on November 29, 2019.
A lot of people have been wondering whether or not General Bajwa would try to get another extension on his contract. On the other hand, the COAS said a few months ago that he is seriously considering retiring this year.
This was also verified by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) at least a number of times, while General Bajwa made it very apparent on two different occasions that he did not want to remain in his current position as commander of the military installation.
The general kicked off his goodbye tour on November 1 by paying a visit to the Army Air Defense Command. The next day, he went to the Armed Forces Strategic Forces Command, which was the next stop on his tour. Currently, the general is in the midst of his farewell tour.
