The Newly appointed COAS Lt. General Raheel Sharif shaking hand with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at PM House. PHOTO: PID
The new army chief on Wednesday received an outpouring of greetings from politicians of all hues.
Laced with wishes for better civil-military relations and strengthening democracy, all political parties welcomed the new army chief and wished him success in his new role.
“He is a thorough professional and we hope he will continue to strengthen civil-military relations and inter-services coordination, respect civilian supremacy and counter growing threats on our borders,” said Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Information Secretary Dr Shireen Mazari.
Welcoming General Raheel, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazlur Rehman (JUI-F) issued a statement saying that it hoped that the new army chief will continue to support and strengthen democracy in Pakistan.
The spokesperson for JUI-F chief added that “there is a dire need to improve structured/institutional interactions between civilian and military leadership for complete convergence on issues including national security and defence policy.”
The statement also hoped that the new chief would support civilian leadership on internal reconciliation regarding dialogue as agreed in the last All Parties Conference (APC).
Similarly, the Awami National Party (ANP) also welcomed the decision. Responding to a question Senator Haji Muhammad Adeel said “for the first time, the change of command has taken place smoothly, replicating the earlier democratic transfer of power for the first time.”
Haji Adeel, however, added that the “last time the prime minister used discretionary powers in appointment the results were not good. But this time around, one of the three senior officers was selected which was not unusual,” he added.
Welcoming the new COAS, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain paid tribute to the outgoing COAS and CJCSC for their role in strengthening of democracy, Hussain expressed the hope “that institutions and democracy would strengthen with every passing day.”
Senator Saeed Ghani of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said that “we should hope for the best.” Defending the prime minister’s prerogative to use his discretionary powers, Ghani said the government should have made the announcement earlier to avoid speculations.
“We should hope that the new army chief will do his job as per law and constitution and would abide by the oath he has taken,” added Ghani, saying that if something went wrong in the past, we should not expect it to be repeated again.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2013.
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He is known to have a very moderate outlook. This bodes well for the region.
@ Jibran Your hate argument is very weak and devoid of reality. TTP is, and should be, appeased by the political parties desperately blocking the NATO routes or declaring HakeemUllah Mahsud as shaheed. PMLN has already declared your TTP as a banned organization. You need to read some history as to how & when was Taliban created as a force in 1994 and who was the Prime Minister and her Interior Minsiter calling these Taliban as "our boys". While a few haters will continue their bashing in any case, this is the best selection based on merit & seniority. Long Live Pakistan!
Weakest general of Pakistan's history. Appeasement of TTP by Nawaz League continues.
Congratulations General Raheel Sharif;
Our best wishes and prayers are for you. may Allah (SWT) guide you as a Commanding Leader of the largest army of any Muslim Country.
You must be rightfully proud of this new honor and achievement in your career. However the honer that you have as the brother of a Shaheed who also earned the highest decoration of Nishan-e Haider, is undoubtedly the biggest honor of all.
I am sure, your leadership, guidance and command will make him proud and smile in Heaven.
For all of you, Pakistan must be first. That means respect, security, economic progress and repute in the world. A lot of expectations...
"wishes for better civil-military relations and strengthening democracy" The only civil military relationship in most countries is to be subservient to the constitution and not have a state within a state. In most prosperous countries nobody knows or cares about this army chief which is only a ceremonial post. Yet in Pakistan last two army chiefs had a monopoly on power for the last two decades. Army takes the oath to uphold the constitution not the general’s unconstitutional ambitions. Pakistan should be no exception in this day and age. After a few more elections the current politicians would be sieved out and better people emerge. Best of luck in serving the country not capturing and taking it over.