President Dr Arif Alvi said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had not undertaken any consultation regarding the appointment of the new army chief with him, adding that he (prime minister) would “definitely do [it] when the time comes”.
Although the army chief’s meeting with the prime minister took place on the sidelines of the apex committee on Afghanistan’s session, it is rare for an army chief to meet both, the head of the state and the head of the government, on the same day.
The president replied in the negative, saying: “No, [the PM has not consulted me] but I think he will definitely [do] when the time comes.”
Shahzeb then pointed out that a column was published in an Urdu daily which claimed that the premier had gotten two important summaries signed by the president in regards to parliament and an “important personality” and that “no one knew what was the content of those orders”.
But the president said that he was not aware of any such development, adding that “nothing like that [the PM getting documents signed from me and keeping them] had happened because whatever I sign becomes public,” Alvi said.
Gen Bajwa’s tenure will be up in November. Last month, PM Imran had said he had so far not thought about an extension in the army chief’s tenure.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Gen Bajwa’s tenure was extended for three years by the prime minister in Aug 2019, just three months before he was set to retire.
The extension was taken up by the Supreme Court, which after much debate had allowed the COAS to retain his position for six months and asked the government to legislate on the matter in that time. The legislation on this matter was passed in Jan 2020, allowing the premier to extend the army chief’s tenure once.
