ISLAMABAD: On Thursday, President Arif Alvi signed the summary and confirmed the nominations of Lieutenant General Asim Munir as the new chief of army staff and Lieutenant General Sahir Shamshad Mirza as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee, ending months of speculation over the two positions (CJCSC).
As expected, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has chosen Lieutenant General Munir to succeed General Qamar Javed Bajwa as the head of Pakistan’s armed forces.
Over on Twitter, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb revealed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also chosen Lt. Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza as CJCSC, as is his constitutional authority.
وزیراعظم پاکستان محمد شہباز شریف نے آئینی اختیار استعمال کرتے ہوئے لیفٹنٹ جنرل ساحر شمشاد مرزا کو چئیرمین جوائنٹ چیفس آف سٹاف اور لیفٹنٹ جنرل سید عاصم منیر کو چیف آف دی آرمی سٹاف مقرر کرنے کا فیصلہ کیا ہے۔ اس بابت سمری صدر پاکستان کو ارسال کر دی گئی ہے۔
— Marriyum Aurangzeb (@Marriyum_A) November 24, 2022
After the allied parties gave PM Shehbaz permission to select the officers to the top seats, he convened a meeting of the federal cabinet early today to deliberate.
According to reports, PM Shehbaz’s pick for army commander, who was about to retire at the end of the month, has been kept by the federal government in accordance with the Pakistan Army Act.
The PM’s decision was followed by the President’s Secretariat receiving a report of the new appointees.
After the head of state left for Lahore to meet with PTI Chairman Imran Khan about the crucial appointments, speculation grew over whether or not the president would approve them.
In an interview on Wednesday night, Imran Khan declared that he and President Alvi will play “legally and constitutionally” on the topic, thus all eyes were on the meeting.
Even while the administration had hoped that the summary signing process would proceed well, it did not.
According to Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, “all the concerns have been addressed in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan,” so hopefully the president won’t cause a controversy. He said that President Alvi had been put to the test with the signing.
