The hype and hoopla created over the appointment of Pakistan’s new army chief came to rest after General Asim Munir and General Sahir Shamshad Mirza were notified as the next chief of army staff (COAS) and chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) respectively on November 24.
Munir, who was to retire on November 27, two days before Bajwa completed an extended tenure of almost six years, was among six generals in the race for the top post — a cause for much uncertainty and speculation till this week. People familiar with the matter in Pakistan said Munir’s reputation as a straight military officer who played by the book helped him clinch the post.
There was an unprecedented hysteria and frenzy in Pakistan by former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, his followers and his social media brigade after the PTI government was thrown out of the power corridors of Islamabad in April.
The government has accused Khan of making the appointment of the new army chief controversial for political gains.
For the last month, Pakistan was literally paralysed administratively and economically because of the delay in the appointment of the army chief who is considered the most powerful personality with all political stakeholders dying for his blessings.
Notably, Pakistan’s military has directly ruled the country of 220 million people for nearly half of its 75-year history.
It is imperative to analyze as to how the decision to appoint Asim Munir was taken and what factors were behind it. How did one Lt Gen manage to become the chief
The selection, which caps weeks of speculation, was confirmed after President Arif Alvi signed a summary sent by the premier.
Lt Gen Munir was promoted to the rank of a three-star general in September 2018, but he took charge two months later. As such, his four-year tenure as Lt Gen ends on November 27, around the same time when incumbent Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Nadeem Raza and Chief of Army Staff Gen Bajwa will be doffing their army uniform, reported Dawn.
Lt Gen Munir entered the service via the Officers Training School programme in Mangla and was commissioned into the Frontier Force Regiment.
He has been a close aide of Gen Bajwa ever since he commanded troops in the Force Command Northern Areas as a brigadier under the outgoing army chief, who was then Commander X Corps.
Lt Gen Munir was later appointed Military Intelligence director general in early 2017, and in October next year was made the Inter-Services Intelligence chief, reported Dawn.
General Asim Munir is the first army chief of Pakistan who has been chief of both Military Intelligence (MI) and the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence). Presently, General Munir is serving as the Quarter Master at the General Headquarters (GHQ).
However, his stint as the top intelligence officer turned out to be the shortest ever, as he was replaced by Lt Gen Faiz Hamid within eight months, on the insistence of then-PM Imran Khan.
He was posted as Gujranwala Corps commander, a position he held for two years, before being moved to the General Headquarters as the quartermaster general.
General Asim Munir was among those in Pakistan who oversaw the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, according to Tilak Devasher, a member of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) and who retired as Special Secretary, the Cabinet Secretariat. Notably, the tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the suicide attack in which 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives when their convoy was attacked on February 14, 2019.
It is also yet to be seen as to what future course of action Imran Khan, the dismayed ex-prime minister, decides to pursue in the coming days.
First of all, the reality is that outgoing army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa despite all announcements by the DG ISPR, DG ISI, and himself was desirous of an extension.
Prima facie, he took a position as if he doesn’t want an extension; he was actually striving hard for it. He was pursuing two game plans. He should get as much extension as possible under the army act.
The second was that if it is not possible, the army chief of his choice should be appointed. He was following a comprehensive strategy in this regard. He had created a certain atmosphere for this purpose.
PTI and its chairman Imran Khan had no objection. Had the government initiated the matter of extension, Imran Khan would have accepted it immediately. That was why an atmosphere of consensus on the extension issue between Bajwa and Imran Khan was present.
During such kind of manoeuvring, the former pursued policy of soft-peddling against Imran Khan creating an impression of the former prime minister being a blue-eyed boy.
It is noteworthy that Bajwa was doing this not for the first time. At the time of his first extension, he had been playing on both sides of the wicket. It was because he secured votes from both the treasury and opposition benches on the army act. He was working on the same plan this time too.
Sources close to PML (N) say that the snatching of the Punjab government from the hands of the ruling coalition was the main reason behind his failure in getting a second extension.
Moreover, Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi in private gatherings used to claim that he took the side of Imran Khan on the direction of Bajwa.
The ruling coalition had a strong grudge against Bajwa, alleging behind closed doors that it lost Punjab because of Bajwa. General Bajwa continued thinking that Punjab is a trump card in his hand.
Whenever Punjab was discussed, General Bajwa would assure that they will tackle Punjab after he gets strengthened after the extension, while on the other hand, the ruling coalition wanted Punjab back first.
This was the turning point in the ties between Bajwa and the government. The ruling coalition decided not to get blackmailed through the Punjab card. The trust between Bajwa and the government got fully shattered. Early elections demand was also aimed at appointing Faiz as army chief. Imran khan had left no stone unturned for early elections prior to the appointment of the new army chief.