Pakistan appoints new top brass

By Aamir Latif

ISLAMABAD

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday named Lt. General Raheel Sharif as chief of army staff (COAS), the country's de facto military chief, and Lt. General Rashad Mahmud as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJSC).

Sharif had ranked third on the Pakistani army's seniority list, serving as inspector-general of training and evaluation.

He replaces outgoing army chief, General Ashfaq Pervez Kyani, who had held the country's most coveted military post for six years.

Sharif is the younger brother of Major Shabbir Sharif, one of 11 recipients of the Nishan-e-Haider Star, Pakistan's top military honor.

Shabbir Sharif was killed during the war against India in 1971.

Mahmud, the new CJSC chief, meanwhile, had been serving as the chief of general staff – the second most important post after army chief.

He has previously served as head of the counter-terrorism unit at the ISI, Pakistan's intelligence service – a qualification that bears upon the ongoing "war on terror" and military operations against the Taliban.

The CJSC post is of largely ceremonial importance.

Notably, the appointment effectively sidestepped Lt. General Haroon Aslam, who ranks first on the army seniority list.

Aslam currently serves as chief of logistics at army headquarters, better known as General Headquarters, a low-profile post traditionally seen as a last stop for army officers on their way to retirement.

Before being transferred to his current post, Aslam had earned a reputation for successfully clearing tribal areas of Taliban militants.

Under Pakistan's constitution, the appointment of a new army chief is the prerogative of the prime minister.

According to protocol, the Ministry of Defense sends a shortlist to the prime minister containing the names of the three most senior army generals.

It is the prime minister's prerogative, however, to either choose from the shortlist or appoint a junior general to the post.

PM Sharif on Tuesday also named close aide Khawaja Asif as his new defense minister. Previously, the prime minister had kept the defense portfolio to himself.

-Bad record-

Sharif has a confrontational history with Pakistan's top brass.

In 1992, when serving his first term as prime minister, he appointed General Waheed Kakar as army chief, superseding the three senior army generals.

A few months later, General Kakar forced Sharif – along with then-president Ghulam Ishaq Khan – to resign, paving the way for fresh elections.

In 1998, during his second tenure as premier, Sharif again violated tradition with his appointment of General Pervez Musharraf as army chief, again leapfrogging over two senior generals.

The same year, Sharif also appointed Musharraf to the post of CJSC, which, according to protocol, should have gone to Admiral Fasih Bukahri. Bukahri later resigned in protest.

One year later, in 1999, Musharraf toppled Sharif's government and sent him to prison after accusing him of "politicizing" Pakistan's military establishment.

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