Kayani gets three-year extension
‘The News’ broke the story on July 16The News -Read more on By Shakil Shaikh
ISLAMABAD: In an unprecedented move, the incumbent Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, has been given another full three-year tenure in office. Scheduled to retire in November, the general shall now retire on 29th November 2013.
The announcement was made rather dramatically by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday evening in a two-and-a-half minutes long nationally televised speech, whose timing was announced barely an hour prior to the actual airing of the address. In an interesting twist, while this was the shortest-ever nationally televised speech by any Pakistani prime minister, it ended up heralding the longest ever tenure extension to any sitting Army chief and one harbouring the potential of long-term consequences on the country’s political and military landscape.
The News already broke this story on July 16 and informed its readers that the COAS would be given a tenure extension. The report had stated, “The president has reportedly given his concurrence to extend the tenure of the incumbent COAS for a minimum two-year period, which could even be extended to three years, effectively turning it into a full new term”.
The report went on to state, “Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who according to an informed insider, has been a strong advocate for extending Gen Kayani’s term and may ultimately have succeeded in what was described as turning his boss slowly in the wind,” adding, “Political pundits had been predicting, and apprehending, some unsavoury power games in the event of the presidency desiring a change in military leadership in the midst of the ongoing war on terror and particularly so with the all important American allies also placing their bets on the professional calibre of the current man in the khaki saddle.”
In his Thursday mini-speech, the prime minister made it a point to emphasise that his decision to extend the tenure of the retiring COAS was made “in consultation with the president”. He said that owing to the ongoing military operations against terrorists, it was important to maintain the element of continuity in the military leadership.
According to sources, the decision was earlier planned to be announced by July 18. However, it was deferred till the conclusion of the visits of the Indian foreign minister and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
A highly placed insider also told The News that earlier General Kayani had been averse to accepting any tenure extension. However, former COAS Gen (retd) Waheed Kakar was said to have played an important role in convincing him to accept the extension in the larger national interest and that of the armed forces institution in particular.
While the tenure extension news was received positively across the nation, it was not really a good news for those elements who had been pinning their hopes on the so-called clash of institutions in the event of the presidency playing a fast one and replacing the highly respected Kayani with some other general of choice. Many had hoped that such a break-up would have helped create grave political uncertainty in the country, which could have only gone against the sitting PPP government in general and President Asif Ali Zardari in particular.
Gen Kayani’s extension must also be unwelcome news for rogue terrorist elements as now he would be in a position to probably finish the war that he has led and shaped over the last three years.
Meanwhile, true to its conspiracy theories tradition, the federal capital is already abuzz with all sorts of speculations and theories about the real reasons behind the modus vivendi of prime minister’s announcement, which according to one observer, “could have been made as a routine affair, in the middle of the day and without the prime minister announcing it in an unannounced speech late in the evening. Why is this sudden rush to make this announcement and that too in such a manner?” The conspiracy theory galore is definitely on.
The prime minister, however, did not speak a word on the outgoing Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Tariq Majid, who would be retiring as a four-star General in October this year.
This apparently demonstrates that General Tariq Majid would be retired on the due date and the prime minister would appoint his successor. The extension in tenure by three-years would also mean that General Kayani would be the Army chief by the time the nation goes to polls in 2013 after completion of five-year term of the present assemblies and there would be no change of guard till that date.
In the coming months, General Kayani will make four additional promotions and appointments to three-star rank. In the fall of 2010, the competition will be intense and four officers will be chosen from a large group of good officers consisting of Major Generals Shakil Hussain (Baloch, commanded 37th Division, served as Vice Military Secretary and currently Director General of Anti-Narcotics Force), Muhammad Yaqub Khan (Azad Kashmir Regiment commanded 14th Division and currently Director General Rangers, Punjab), Raheel Sharif (PIFFER, commanded 11th Division and currently Commandant of PMA), Athar Abbas (Armored Corps officer, commanded 6th Armored Division, and currently Director General Inter Services Public Relations), Azhar Ali Shah (Punjab Regiment officer command).
So far, Kayani has given extension to some senior officers like present ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, Lt Gen Masood Aslam (who retired some months back after serving extension for some months), Lt Gen Sikandar Afzal (UN Force Commander in Liberia) and a few others.
‘The News’ broke the story on July 16The News -Read more on By Shakil Shaikh
ISLAMABAD: In an unprecedented move, the incumbent Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, has been given another full three-year tenure in office. Scheduled to retire in November, the general shall now retire on 29th November 2013.
The announcement was made rather dramatically by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday evening in a two-and-a-half minutes long nationally televised speech, whose timing was announced barely an hour prior to the actual airing of the address. In an interesting twist, while this was the shortest-ever nationally televised speech by any Pakistani prime minister, it ended up heralding the longest ever tenure extension to any sitting Army chief and one harbouring the potential of long-term consequences on the country’s political and military landscape.
The News already broke this story on July 16 and informed its readers that the COAS would be given a tenure extension. The report had stated, “The president has reportedly given his concurrence to extend the tenure of the incumbent COAS for a minimum two-year period, which could even be extended to three years, effectively turning it into a full new term”.
The report went on to state, “Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who according to an informed insider, has been a strong advocate for extending Gen Kayani’s term and may ultimately have succeeded in what was described as turning his boss slowly in the wind,” adding, “Political pundits had been predicting, and apprehending, some unsavoury power games in the event of the presidency desiring a change in military leadership in the midst of the ongoing war on terror and particularly so with the all important American allies also placing their bets on the professional calibre of the current man in the khaki saddle.”
In his Thursday mini-speech, the prime minister made it a point to emphasise that his decision to extend the tenure of the retiring COAS was made “in consultation with the president”. He said that owing to the ongoing military operations against terrorists, it was important to maintain the element of continuity in the military leadership.
According to sources, the decision was earlier planned to be announced by July 18. However, it was deferred till the conclusion of the visits of the Indian foreign minister and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
A highly placed insider also told The News that earlier General Kayani had been averse to accepting any tenure extension. However, former COAS Gen (retd) Waheed Kakar was said to have played an important role in convincing him to accept the extension in the larger national interest and that of the armed forces institution in particular.
While the tenure extension news was received positively across the nation, it was not really a good news for those elements who had been pinning their hopes on the so-called clash of institutions in the event of the presidency playing a fast one and replacing the highly respected Kayani with some other general of choice. Many had hoped that such a break-up would have helped create grave political uncertainty in the country, which could have only gone against the sitting PPP government in general and President Asif Ali Zardari in particular.
Gen Kayani’s extension must also be unwelcome news for rogue terrorist elements as now he would be in a position to probably finish the war that he has led and shaped over the last three years.
Meanwhile, true to its conspiracy theories tradition, the federal capital is already abuzz with all sorts of speculations and theories about the real reasons behind the modus vivendi of prime minister’s announcement, which according to one observer, “could have been made as a routine affair, in the middle of the day and without the prime minister announcing it in an unannounced speech late in the evening. Why is this sudden rush to make this announcement and that too in such a manner?” The conspiracy theory galore is definitely on.
The prime minister, however, did not speak a word on the outgoing Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Tariq Majid, who would be retiring as a four-star General in October this year.
This apparently demonstrates that General Tariq Majid would be retired on the due date and the prime minister would appoint his successor. The extension in tenure by three-years would also mean that General Kayani would be the Army chief by the time the nation goes to polls in 2013 after completion of five-year term of the present assemblies and there would be no change of guard till that date.
In the coming months, General Kayani will make four additional promotions and appointments to three-star rank. In the fall of 2010, the competition will be intense and four officers will be chosen from a large group of good officers consisting of Major Generals Shakil Hussain (Baloch, commanded 37th Division, served as Vice Military Secretary and currently Director General of Anti-Narcotics Force), Muhammad Yaqub Khan (Azad Kashmir Regiment commanded 14th Division and currently Director General Rangers, Punjab), Raheel Sharif (PIFFER, commanded 11th Division and currently Commandant of PMA), Athar Abbas (Armored Corps officer, commanded 6th Armored Division, and currently Director General Inter Services Public Relations), Azhar Ali Shah (Punjab Regiment officer command).
So far, Kayani has given extension to some senior officers like present ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, Lt Gen Masood Aslam (who retired some months back after serving extension for some months), Lt Gen Sikandar Afzal (UN Force Commander in Liberia) and a few others.
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