The Pakistan government is likely to announce the name of the new army chief in a week's time, the Express Tribune newspaper reported on Friday quoting the State Minister for Capital Administration Tariq Fazl Chaudhry.
Chaudhry was quoted as saying that though the government has not yet finalized the name of the current army chief, General Raheel Sharif, is set to retire in November and has not said that he is seeking an extension.
In August Dawn newspaper reported that there are four candidates that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could consider, although all appear to be evenly poised and there is no clear front runner. Technically, it is the Prime Minister who appoints the army chief, though, as Pakistan’s history shows, the civilian government doesn’t exert strict control over the army.
The four candidates, according to seniority, are: Chief of General Staff Lt Gen Zubair Hayat, Multan Corps Commander Lt Gen Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmed, Bahawalpur Corps Commander Lt Gen Javed Iqbal Ramday and Inspector General Training and Evaluation Lt Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.
When PM Sharif makes a decision it will be guided by personal choices, political considerations and his own experience of working with the candidates, with a preference for picking someone "safe", Dawn reported.
This will be the fifth time Sharif will pick the commander of the country's nearly 5.5 lakh ground troops.
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