PM Nawaz meets top military officials
The meetings took place a day before General Kayani's retirement from his post of army chief.
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held separate meetings with Lieutenant General Rashid Mehmood and Lieutenant General Raheel Sharif in Islamabad on Wednesday.
They discussed national security as well professional matters relating to the military.
The meetings took place a day before General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani’s retirement from his post of army chief. The government is also expected to announce a name for chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff committee along with the name of a new army chief.
Meanwhile, the prime minister is scheduled to host a farewell dinner for General Kayani today, where he will have an opportunity to interact with the military high command.
Political leaders, corps commanders and senior military officials will be present in the event.
SUSPENSE REMAINS OVER GEN KAYANI S SUCCESSOR
The suspense over the successor to Pakistan Army s powerful chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani mounted today with no names being announced even though the incumbent is to retire on Friday.
For PM Nawaz, choosing the new Army chief would be a calibrated move. This would be the fourth time he would be choosing an Army Chief. He picked up Abdul Waheed Kakar as the Army chief in 1993 but the General soon ditched him and played a key role in Sharif s resignation. Kakar had superseded at least four senior generals.
In 1998, he hand-picked Pervez Musharraf to head the Army and he too had superseded at least two Generals. Musharraf first plotted the Kargil misadventure derailing Sharif s India-Pakistan peace dialogue in 1999 and then engineered a coup against the Prime Minister in the same year.
Sharif selected Ziauddin Butt in October 1999 but he could not take over as the Army chief due to the coup by Musharraf.
Kayani, who also served as the Director-General of the spy agency ISI and director of the Directorate-General of Military Operations, will hang his boots on Friday after being at the helm of the Army for six years.
The next Chief will have to be someone who can hit the ground running.
