Pakistan's controversial and politically charged run up to the appointment of next Chief of Army Staff may end soon with the government naming the next head of the Army within days.
Though it may be a routine administrative affair in many other countries, in Pakistan the appointment of the army chief attracts a lot of attention, primarily due to multiple hidden powers attached with the powerful post.
According to Article 243(3) of the Constitution, the president appoints all services chiefs on the recommendation of the prime minister, who may consult his aides but he solely has the power to make the appointment.
The appointment of chiefs of navy and air force goes unnoticed but it is not the case with the nomination of the Army chief. The guessing game starts months before the end of the tenure of the incumbent.
In the latest case, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, 61, is set to hang his boots on November 29 but speculation began as early as August as to who would be his successor.
The leading English-language daily Dawn ran a report on August 16 about the top generals, with one of them entering the shoes of Gen Bajwa, while the other getting the post Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS).
The brief introduction of the top five is given below:
Lt-Gen Asim Munir: He is the senior-most. His four-year tenure as Lt-Gen will end on November 27, just two days before retirement of Gen Bajwa. He is in the race as the decision for the army chief would be made before his retirement. If appointed, he would get a three-year extension in the service.
Lt- Gen Munir was commissioned into the Frontier Force Regiment and has been a close aide of the incumbent COAS ever since he commanded troops in the Force Command Northern Areas as a brigadier under Gen Bajwa, who was then the Commander X Corps.
He was later appointed chief of Military Intelligence in early 2017, and in October next year was made the ISI chief. However, his stint as the top intelligence officer turned out to be the shortest ever, as he was replaced by Lt-Gen Faiz Hamid within eight months, on the insistence of then-Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Dawn reported that Munir is an outstanding officer but because of the technicalities involved, he may remain the proverbial dark horse.
Lt-Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza: He is senior-most amongst the other four candidates who belong to the same batch. He hails from the Sindh Regiment.
He came to prominence as director-general military operations (DGMO) during the last two years of Gen Raheel Sharif, the COAS from 2013-16. In that role, he was part of Gen Sharif’s core team at GHQ, which supervised the military operation against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militants in North Waziristan.
He has served as the chief of general staff, and in that role he was closely engaged in crucial decision-making related to national security and foreign affairs.
In October 2021, he was posted as Corps Commander Rawalpindi to enable him to acquire operational experience and become eligible to be considered for the top posts.
The Dawn newspaper quoted a military source as saying that while commenting on his profile he was the clear frontrunner for either of the two posts of COAS and CJCSC.
Lt Gen Azhar Abbas: He is the most experienced in Indian affairs among the current brass. Currently, he is the chief of general staff (CGS), effectively running the army with direct oversight of both operations and intelligence directorates at GHQ.
Prior to that, he commanded the Rawalpindi-based but Kashmir-centric and politically-significant X Corps, which indicates that he enjoys the complete trust of the present army chief. It was during his time as commander X Corps that the Indian and Pakistani armies reached an understanding on respecting the 2003 ceasefire agreement along the Line of Control (LOC).
He has also commanded the 12th Infantry Division based in Murree, from where he was responsible for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Lt-Gen Nauman Mehmood: He belongs to the Baloch Regiment. He is currently president of the National Defence University. He also has extensive experience as chief instructor at the Command and Staff College, Quetta.
He has served as director-general (Analysis) at the ISI, playing a crucial role in foreign policy analysis from a national security perspective.
In December 2019, he was sent to the Peshawar-based XI Corps. From there, he oversaw security along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and its fencing at a time when the US withdrew its forces.
Lt-Gen Faiz Hamid: He, too, belongs to the Baloch Regiment and was one of the most widely-discussed contenders among the competitors for the top office. Gen Bajwa and Lt-Gen Hamid have reportedly known each other for long. As brigadier, Lt-Gen Hamid served as chief of staff of the X Corps under Gen Bajwa, who was then commanding the corps.
Soon after his promotion as the army chief, Gen Bajwa posted him as director-general (Counter-Intelligence) at ISI, where he was not only responsible for internal security, but also political affairs.
In the last phase of his stint as head of the ISI, he became the focus of a controversy between Imran Khan and the COAS as the latter had decided to post him as commander of the Peshawar Corps and the former was not willing to relieve him. He was ultimately posted out to Peshawar, where he served for less than a year before being moved to the Bahawalpur Corps.
Some political pundits say it might be difficult, if not impossible, for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership to consider him for the post of the next COAS due to the highly-publicised nature of his role as ISI chief during the last government’s tenure.
Going by the official indications, the nomination of a new chief is just around the corner. As per the tradition, the General Headquarters (GHQ) through the Ministry of Defence sends a list of the four to five senior-most lieutenant-generals to the prime minister who is the final authority to make the decision.
Former premier Nawaz Sharif during his three tenures appointed five army chiefs.
Ironically, he fell out with almost all of them. General Pervez Musharraf toppled his government in 1999, while he was disqualified and imprisoned during the tenure of General Bajwa, who was also handpicked by Sharif.
His younger brother Shehbaz Sharif is about to make his first appointment. Though, many believe that would follow the advice given by his elder brother with whom he held consultations in London earlier this month.
