Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has appointed Lt. General Asim Munir as new chief of Pakistan’s powerful army. Lt. General Tahir Shamshad has been picked as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.

The announcement was made by federal information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb on Saturday following weeks of intense speculation and rumours.

The appointment of the chief of army staff, most powerful man in Pakistan, has been doing the rounds in country’s power corridors for long. However, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday chose Lt Gen Asim Munir as the new chief of army staff (COAS) putting the rumours and speculations to rest.

Federal Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb took to Twitter to make the announcement saying the premier had made the choice while exercising his constitutional authority. She further said that Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza had been picked as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC).

She added that a summary of the same had been sent to President Arif Alvi.

Speaking to the media minutes after the announcement was made, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the matter had been decided according to the law and the Constitution, calling on the nation to refrain from viewing it through a “political lens”.

He expressed the hope that the president would not make the appointments “controversial” and would endorse the advice of the premier.

The defence minister reiterated that the president should endorse the premier’s advice so that a “controversy may not arise”. “This will also help our country and the economy to get on track. Currently, everything is at a standstill,” dawn quoted him as saying.

He expressed the same in a tweet, saying that the advice had been forwarded to the president. He went on to say that it would now be a test for former premier Imran Khan where he could either strengthen the institution responsible for defending the country or make it controversial.

“This is also a test for President Alvi, whether he will follow political advice or the constitutional and legal advice,” he said. “As the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, it is his duty to protect the country from political conflicts,” he said about Alvi

According to Dawn, outgoing COAS Qamar Javed Bajwa was originally supposed to retire in 2019. However, his tenure was extended  three years by then-prime minister Imran Khan in Aug 2019, just three months before he was set to retire.

Despite speculation about him seeking another extension, Bajwa had indicated several months ago that he has planned to retire this year.

His retirement plan was later confirmed by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on at least a couple of occasions and the general had himself in the last few months twice made it clear that he had no intentions to carry on — once during his visit to the United States and then again, while speaking at the National Security Workshop at National Defence University.

The next army chief’s appointment is at times mentioned as one of the major subplots in the ongoing political crisis engulfing the country which began earlier this year following the tabling of a no-trust motion against Imran.

As per Dawn, Doubts about Bajwa’s retirement plan had been so strong that Imran, when faced with the vote of no-confidence, suspected that the political move against him was linked to Gen Bajwa’s impending retirement. He had, therefore, offered an indefinite extension to Gen Bajwa in a bid to pre-empt the then opposition’s vote against him, as per a recent press note by senior military officers.

Gen Bajwa started his farewell visits to formations on Nov 1 with a visit to the Army Air Defence Command and followed up the next day with a visit to Armed Forces Strategic Forces Command. Since then had toured a number of formations.

In a farewell address Gen Bajwa acknowledged that the military received criticism for “unconstitutionally interfering in politics”, and at the same time criticised political parties for erring and being intolerant towards rivals.

He also called on political stakeholders to reflect on their attitudes as the “army had started its catharsis” as he emphasised the need for the restoration of political stability.

Who Is General Asim Munir?

According to Geo news, Lt Gen Asim Munir joined the Pakistan Army from the Mangala Officers Training School programme and then became a commissioned officer in the Frontier Force Regiment.

He commanded the Northern Areas Force as a brigadier and was appointed the director-general of the Military Intelligence in early 2017.

In 2018, Lt Gen Munir was appointed as the director-general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Following this, he was posted as Corps Commander Gujranwala for two years. Currently, Lt Gen Munir is serving as the Quarter Master at the General Headquarters (GHQ).

Lt Gen Munir will become the first army chief who has headed both — the MI and the ISI. He will also be the first army chief who has been awarded the Sword of Honour.

When Lt Gen Munir was posted in Madina as a lieutenant colonel, the military officer became Hafiz-i-Quran (a person who has memorised the Quran) at the age of 38.