Race heats up for next Pak Army Chief

With Pakistan Army Chief Raheel Sharif saying he will step down when his tenure ends in November, the military high command has sent the prime minister the dossiers on four main contenders, sources said.

Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif’s favourite, sources said, is Lt. Gen. Javed Iqbal Ramday, who led a 2009 operation to drive the Pakistani Taliban militant movement from Swat Valley near the Afghan border. The three others are Zubair Hayat, chief of general staff, Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmad, commanding officer in Multan, and Qamar Javed Bajwa, who heads the Army’s training and evaluation wing.

Amid heightened tension between Delhi and Islamabad following the September 18 terror attack in Kashmir’s Uri, the appointment of the next Army Chief becomes even more critical in Pakistan ruled by the military for more than half its lifetime. India will be keenly watching the appointment as Pakistan’s armed forces are widely seen to be controlling defence and foreign affairs.

Overshadowing the proc-ess has been speculation in the media and by some government officials that General Sharif — no relation to PM Sharif — may seek to hold on to some or all of his powers even after his term is finished. The general is immensely popular among ordinary Pakistanis, who see him as a bulwark against crime, corruption and Islamist militant violence.

He has also strengthened the military’s grip over aspects of government, including the judiciary and areas of security policy. Yet the military flatly rejects the possibility of an extension. “I will request you to avoid speculations, because we have already taken a position very clearly,” Lt. Gen. Asim Bajwa, the Army’s main spokesman, told a recent press briefing. The military declined to comment further and said General Sharif was not available for comments.