Pak army chief faces a tall task
Lt Gen Munir will deal with a defiant Imran Khan and dipping public opinion of the army
OUR TAKE
After months of speculation and political wrangling, Pakistan’s Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif named Lieutenant General (Lt Gen) Syed Asim Munir, a man with stints as head of both the Military Intelligence and the Interservices Intelligence (ISI), as the new army chief. The appointment was also cleared by President Arif Alvi, an acolyte of former PM Imran Khan whose relations with the Sharif government can only be described as strained. Lt Gen Munir is set to succeed General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who has been under a cloud for some time now for accepting a three-year extension in service and due to the widespread criticism of the army’s interference in the political domain after two peaceful transitions of power before the controversial general election of 2018 that saw Mr Khan become PM.
Mr Khan had resorted to several stratagems to stall the appointment of the next army chief — from claiming that the process was tainted by the PM consulting his brother, former premier Nawaz Sharif who is in self-exile in London, to calling for the next army chief to be appointed after the 2023 general election. Things came to such a pass that the army took the unprecedented step of fielding the ISI chief for a media briefing for the first time to accuse Mr Khan of maligning the military leadership and creating divisions within the polity and the people.
The feeling in Pakistan’s public circles is that the army’s reputation has taken a beating, and there is also a growing sense of frustration at the military’s meddling in politics. Whether the new army chief can quell this dissatisfaction will be watched closely. Mr Khan will also prove to be a challenging adversary, especially in the run-up to the elections next year. By almost all accounts, Gen Bajwa wanted to improve relations with India to foster Pakistan’s economic stability, and it remains to be seen whether his successor will continue with such a stance. Those in New Delhi keeping a close watch on the generals in Rawalpindi will also be looking at the new chief’s position on counter-terrorism and regional security. The next few months in Pakistan will be turbulent, with fluid political dynamics under a besieged government and a defiant challenger. As always in Pakistan, the balance of power will be held by the army and, by extension, Lt Gen Munir.