Islamabad: Forgetting the plight of Pakistanis who are facing one of the worst floods in the history of the country, the only news making the headlines is the selection of a new army chief.
CoAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa is due to retire in November 2022 and all eyes are focused on the appointment of the new army chief of flood-affected Pakistan, reported Islam Khabar.
Ousted in April, former Prime Minister Imran Khan recently said that Pakistan should go in for a snap poll in October, so that his political opponents, whom he calls ‘thieves’, do not select the successor to the incumbent Army Chief, General Bajwa.
Imran Khan assumes that he will win the polls and that will prevent his detractors from appointing a ‘pliable’ army chief who may condone their corruption, reported Islam Khabar.
What does Imran Khan really want? Ideally, he would like to choose Bajwa’s successor. He had wanted General Faiz Hameed to continue as ISI Chief some time ago, but this suggestion was turned down by the army chief. Faiz Hameed is one of the contenders to succeed Bajwa in November!
Most politicians in Pakistan agree that the Army has made ‘sacrifices’ and its members “staking their lives for the nation” ought not to be subjected to the ‘insult’ that they say Imran Khan is inflicting.
Imran Khan’s recent remarks are part of his rhetoric against the army and for the most part, are impractical. Even if elections are announced today, the electoral process, once begun, will take at least six weeks and results, assuming that they would yield a clear-cut popular verdict, would need time for a new government to take office, reported Islam Khabar.
Imran’s anger is against the army for having let him down last year after propping him to power in 2018. But the former PM continues to maintain his links with the establishment. Reports indicate that he is “in direct touch” with the army, both within the ISI and the senior leadership of the Army.
The deep state has reportedly told him that elections would be held in March 2023, four months before schedule. It is speculated that a formal announcement of the polls will be made in January 2023, reported Islam Khabar.