Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif bypassed more senior generals on Wednesday to name Lt. Gen. Raheel Sharif as the new chief of army staff, a day before Gen. Ashfaq Kayani was due to retire from the helm of the world's sixth-largest army.
A more senior general widely seen as Gen. Kayani's preferred choice for the army leadership, Lt. Gen. Rashad Mahmood, was named chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, a technically superior but largely ceremonial position.
Gen. Sharif's appointment as army chief is a major upset. He is the third most senior ranking general and Mr. Sharif has repeatedly said that he would make the appointment on the basis of seniority only. The most senior general after Gen. Kayani, Lt. Gen. Haroon Aslam, who is widely popular in the ranks, was passed over by the decision.
The Western-educated Gen. Sharif, who is believed to be close to Prime Minister Sharif's family but isn't a relative, has never served in the Military Operations Directorate, the nerve center of the army where all previous army chiefs have been groomed. A retired military officer suggested that this made him an outsider from the core army leadership, though he declined to comment on whether this would create tensions internally in the army or with the civilian administration.
The new army chief of staff previously served as Inspector General Training and Evaluation, a marginal position beyond the key operational activities of the army. "He was put in that position by Kayani. It is a position that usually leads to an early retirement," said a recently retired military official, voicing surprise over Gen. Sharif's rise to the top.
Gen. Sharif is described by people familiar with him as a "laid back" man who has risen to the top of the army riding on the coattails of his highly decorated brother, Maj. Shabbir Sharif, who died in action in the 1971 war against India.
Putting Gen. Mahmood into the joint committee job would be widely viewed as an attempt to sideline Gen. Kayani's preferred candidate, and to reassert the civilian government's control over the army, a retired officer said.
Defense analyst Ayesha Siddiqa suggested that Gen. Mahmood's appointment was also part of a deal between the army and civilian government to keep the joint committee under the control of the army. The position is meant to be rotated between the three branches of the armed forces but has remained firmly in the control of the army since the 1990s. Mr. Sharif had previously hinted that he would give the position to the navy.
The transition comes as the coup-prone country is bracing for the fallout from the withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition troops from Afghanistan in 2014. U.S. military and civilian officials, who maintain close relations with the Pakistani army and Gen. Kayani, see Pakistan's cooperation as vital to Washington's regional strategy and hope for continuity under the new chief of staff. Gen. Kayani served as army chief for the past six years.
The new army chief may also have to launch a new offensive against militants in the Northern Waziristan tribal area that borders Afghanistan, after the civilian government's attempts at a peace initiative have faltered. The army is known to be wary of the government's decision to negotiate with the Pakistani Taliban, and if the new chief pushes for military action against the militant strongholds the move could strain the current fragile equilibrium in civil-military relations.
Mr. Sharif, who served as prime minister twice before, has had difficult experiences with appointing army chiefs in the past.
His first term as prime minister was curtailed by then-army chief Gen. Waheed Kakar, whom Mr. Sharif had appointed only 10 months earlier. Gen. Kakar pressured Mr. Sharif to resign, precipitating the 1993 general election that brought to power the rival Pakistan Peoples Party.
During his second term as prime minister, Mr. Sharif also overlooked the top ranking generals to appoint the third in line, Pervez Musharraf. Gen. Musharraf overthrew Mr. Sharif in a coup in 1999, ushering in nine years of military rule.
Gen. Aslam was the director of military operations at the time—one of the reasons why he may have been bypassed on Wednesday, some retired officers say.
Gen. Aslam, who is currently the Chief of Logistics Staff, is a popular general with strong support within the ranks. He led the daring Peocher operation in Swat in May 2009, when he commanded the Pakistani special forces. The operation paved the way for the army's victory over the Pakistani Taliban who had taken over the picturesque valley.
"The tragedy of Pakistan is that the COAS is always selected on considerations other than professionalism," said retired Brigadier Samson Sharaf. "But whoever is brought in will look after the interests of the institution he leads."
Gen. Sharif comes from a military family and holds degrees from the Royal College of Defence Studies in London and the Canadian Army Command and Staff College, according to a biography released by the Pakistani army.
A more senior general widely seen as Gen. Kayani's preferred choice for the army leadership, Lt. Gen. Rashad Mahmood, was named chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, a technically superior but largely ceremonial position.
Gen. Sharif's appointment as army chief is a major upset. He is the third most senior ranking general and Mr. Sharif has repeatedly said that he would make the appointment on the basis of seniority only. The most senior general after Gen. Kayani, Lt. Gen. Haroon Aslam, who is widely popular in the ranks, was passed over by the decision.
The Western-educated Gen. Sharif, who is believed to be close to Prime Minister Sharif's family but isn't a relative, has never served in the Military Operations Directorate, the nerve center of the army where all previous army chiefs have been groomed. A retired military officer suggested that this made him an outsider from the core army leadership, though he declined to comment on whether this would create tensions internally in the army or with the civilian administration.
The new army chief of staff previously served as Inspector General Training and Evaluation, a marginal position beyond the key operational activities of the army. "He was put in that position by Kayani. It is a position that usually leads to an early retirement," said a recently retired military official, voicing surprise over Gen. Sharif's rise to the top.
Gen. Sharif is described by people familiar with him as a "laid back" man who has risen to the top of the army riding on the coattails of his highly decorated brother, Maj. Shabbir Sharif, who died in action in the 1971 war against India.
Putting Gen. Mahmood into the joint committee job would be widely viewed as an attempt to sideline Gen. Kayani's preferred candidate, and to reassert the civilian government's control over the army, a retired officer said.
Defense analyst Ayesha Siddiqa suggested that Gen. Mahmood's appointment was also part of a deal between the army and civilian government to keep the joint committee under the control of the army. The position is meant to be rotated between the three branches of the armed forces but has remained firmly in the control of the army since the 1990s. Mr. Sharif had previously hinted that he would give the position to the navy.
The transition comes as the coup-prone country is bracing for the fallout from the withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition troops from Afghanistan in 2014. U.S. military and civilian officials, who maintain close relations with the Pakistani army and Gen. Kayani, see Pakistan's cooperation as vital to Washington's regional strategy and hope for continuity under the new chief of staff. Gen. Kayani served as army chief for the past six years.
The new army chief may also have to launch a new offensive against militants in the Northern Waziristan tribal area that borders Afghanistan, after the civilian government's attempts at a peace initiative have faltered. The army is known to be wary of the government's decision to negotiate with the Pakistani Taliban, and if the new chief pushes for military action against the militant strongholds the move could strain the current fragile equilibrium in civil-military relations.
Mr. Sharif, who served as prime minister twice before, has had difficult experiences with appointing army chiefs in the past.
His first term as prime minister was curtailed by then-army chief Gen. Waheed Kakar, whom Mr. Sharif had appointed only 10 months earlier. Gen. Kakar pressured Mr. Sharif to resign, precipitating the 1993 general election that brought to power the rival Pakistan Peoples Party.
During his second term as prime minister, Mr. Sharif also overlooked the top ranking generals to appoint the third in line, Pervez Musharraf. Gen. Musharraf overthrew Mr. Sharif in a coup in 1999, ushering in nine years of military rule.
Gen. Aslam was the director of military operations at the time—one of the reasons why he may have been bypassed on Wednesday, some retired officers say.
Gen. Aslam, who is currently the Chief of Logistics Staff, is a popular general with strong support within the ranks. He led the daring Peocher operation in Swat in May 2009, when he commanded the Pakistani special forces. The operation paved the way for the army's victory over the Pakistani Taliban who had taken over the picturesque valley.
"The tragedy of Pakistan is that the COAS is always selected on considerations other than professionalism," said retired Brigadier Samson Sharaf. "But whoever is brought in will look after the interests of the institution he leads."
Gen. Sharif comes from a military family and holds degrees from the Royal College of Defence Studies in London and the Canadian Army Command and Staff College, according to a biography released by the Pakistani army.
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