ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on Wednesday that general elections will be held as scheduled in 2023, while the appointment of a new army chief will be done next month in accordance with law and the constitution.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is set to elect the new army chief before the retirement of incumbent General Qamar Javed Bajwa by the end of November.
Last month, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that General Bajwa should be given another extension until a new government is elected, while reiterating calls for early elections.
Asif said, “Imran Khan’s mind is not well and he is scared as November is approaching.”
The minister said it has not been decided to replace Bajwa, though the names of five senior lieutenant generals have come up for consideration, he said.
Bajwa has held the top post of Pakistan Army for six years.
He was initially appointed in 2016, but after a three-year tenure, in 2019, Khan’s then government extended his service for another three years.
“Any one of those General Staff officers or anyone mentioned in the list can be appointed,” he said, adding that all three-star generals were eligible for the rank of army chief.
After the former prime minister addressed the military establishment as “neutral”, Asif also hit out at Khan for repeatedly criticizing the armed forces for staying away from politics.
“Imran Khan acts in a hypocritical manner and lies about the security forces of Pakistan. But it is our duty to stand with the army,” he claimed.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Khan gave a call for ‘Haqiki Azadi March’ (real freedom march) during a meeting held at his Bani Gala residence here on Monday. Announcement of fresh elections in the assembly and the country.
According to the Express Tribune newspaper, party workers said that Khan would announce the long march any time after October 9, the birth anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad.
The 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, who came to power in 2018 with a promise to create a ‘Naya Pakistan’, failed miserably to address the fundamental problem of keeping commodity prices under check.
He was ousted from power in April through a motion of no confidence in Parliament.
The appointment of an army chief is the sole prerogative of the prime minister and perhaps the only time his decision is accepted by the mighty military without any ‘ifs and buts’.
The upcoming appointment is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. When Khan was in power, the opposition accused him of trying to bring in an army chief of his choice who could support his alleged agenda of torturing opposition leaders.
Since he lost power, the equation has changed and now Khan is saying that the coalition government wants to install an army chief of his choice to protect looted property and steal general elections.
Whatever the political meaning of rival rhetoric, the fact remains that an army chief is rarely a mute spectator to political games in the country.
Nearly half of the country’s history was ruled directly by military generals.
The mighty military, which has ruled a coup-prone country for more than half of its 75-plus years of existence, has so far wielded considerable power in matters of security and foreign policy.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is set to elect the new army chief before the retirement of incumbent General Qamar Javed Bajwa by the end of November.
Last month, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that General Bajwa should be given another extension until a new government is elected, while reiterating calls for early elections.
Asif said, “Imran Khan’s mind is not well and he is scared as November is approaching.”
The minister said it has not been decided to replace Bajwa, though the names of five senior lieutenant generals have come up for consideration, he said.
Bajwa has held the top post of Pakistan Army for six years.
He was initially appointed in 2016, but after a three-year tenure, in 2019, Khan’s then government extended his service for another three years.
“Any one of those General Staff officers or anyone mentioned in the list can be appointed,” he said, adding that all three-star generals were eligible for the rank of army chief.
After the former prime minister addressed the military establishment as “neutral”, Asif also hit out at Khan for repeatedly criticizing the armed forces for staying away from politics.
“Imran Khan acts in a hypocritical manner and lies about the security forces of Pakistan. But it is our duty to stand with the army,” he claimed.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Khan gave a call for ‘Haqiki Azadi March’ (real freedom march) during a meeting held at his Bani Gala residence here on Monday. Announcement of fresh elections in the assembly and the country.
According to the Express Tribune newspaper, party workers said that Khan would announce the long march any time after October 9, the birth anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad.
The 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, who came to power in 2018 with a promise to create a ‘Naya Pakistan’, failed miserably to address the fundamental problem of keeping commodity prices under check.
He was ousted from power in April through a motion of no confidence in Parliament.
The appointment of an army chief is the sole prerogative of the prime minister and perhaps the only time his decision is accepted by the mighty military without any ‘ifs and buts’.
The upcoming appointment is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. When Khan was in power, the opposition accused him of trying to bring in an army chief of his choice who could support his alleged agenda of torturing opposition leaders.
Since he lost power, the equation has changed and now Khan is saying that the coalition government wants to install an army chief of his choice to protect looted property and steal general elections.
Whatever the political meaning of rival rhetoric, the fact remains that an army chief is rarely a mute spectator to political games in the country.
Nearly half of the country’s history was ruled directly by military generals.
The mighty military, which has ruled a coup-prone country for more than half of its 75-plus years of existence, has so far wielded considerable power in matters of security and foreign policy.