ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday lauded General Asim Munir, the newly appointed army chief, for being a “professional soldier” and said the military would "strengthen" as an institution under his leadership.
The Sharif-led coalition government last month appointed Munir as the new army chief to replace General Qamar Javed Bajwa. The army chief’s is arguably the most influential office in Pakistan, a country where the military has ruled for almost half its 75 year history and retains an outsized role in politics and foreign affairs.
Bajwa, in the months leading up to his retirement on November 29, was the subject of bitter criticism amid a debate about the role of the army chief and the military in Pakistan’s political system. At the centre of the debate was former Prime Minister Imran Khan who has accused Bajwa and the military under him of colluding with his political rivals and the US to remove him from office in April in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence. All three deny the accusations.
Khan is himself widely accused of having being brought to power in 2018 by the military led by Bajwa before falling out with the army. The military says it no longer intervenes in political affairs and Khan says he fairly won the last general election.
“I would say this to Imran Khan that [Gen Bajwa] was your benefactor, but you were not loyal to him,” Sharif said in a press conference in Islamabad on Monday.
“The new army chief is a professional soldier who would strengthen the institution [of the army] further. He will fully serve the country while staying within his sphere of influence.”
Munir takes control at a time when the political showdown between the government and ex-PM Khan continues and threatens to draw in the new chief, even as the country faces an economic crisis.
Munir also faces a possible resurgence of militant activity in the country, with the Pakistani Taliban group announcing last month that it will no longer abide by a months-long ceasefire with the government.
