Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has become the first politician in Pakistan’s history to appoint six army chiefs. One of them – Pervez Musharraf – went against him and toppled Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999, while the rest too gave him a tough time.
After assuming office in 1990, Sharif appointed Gen Asif Janjua to succeed Gen Mirza Aslam Baig. Unlike Baig, who was ambitious and insecure, Janjua was a very popular officer who commanded loyalty. But Janjua, who earned admiration for tackling the MQM as corps commander in Karachi, died of a heart attack in 1993, leaving a leadership void.
This void was filled by Gen Abdul Waheed Kakar, a Pashtun officer appointed by Sharif who was seen as a weak candidate. It was Kakar who brokered the agreement in mid-1993 whereby Sharif and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan resigned after a constitutional deadlock.
Sharif returned as premier in 1997, when Gen Jahangir Karamat was army chief. They got off to a bad start as the army was given a constitutional role in decision-making through the National Security Council. Sharif rejected the idea and the situation deteriorated to the point that Karamat resigned in 1998.
Against all advice, Sharif appointed Musharraf in 1998. Soon after the Kargil conflict, Sharif moved to dismiss Musharraf and appoint a new army chief, Gen Ziauddin Butt. But the army rejected this and Musharraf toppled the government.
Sharif returned as premier in 2013, when Gen Ashfaq Kayani was the chief. Soon after, Sharif nominated Gen Raheel Sharif, who was seen as close to the Sharif family. But his three years as chief proved a testing time for the PML-N government.
If the new chief, Gen Qamar Bajwa, takes a strong stand on corruption, there could be friction between him and the premier, who faces the opposition’s ire over allegations of graft in the Panama Papers leaks.
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