After weeks of intense speculation, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has finally made the selection of two senior army generals as Chief of Army Staff and Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee.
According to media reports Lt Gen Raheel Sharif is being appointed as the COAS whereas Lt Gen Rashid Mahmood is being appointed as the CJCSC.
Both senior generals met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif separately earlier on Wednesday where the premier conveyed the decision to them.
The two meetings are thought to have immense significance as they come a day before General Kayani’s retirement from his post of army chief.
The appointments imply that front runner and the senior most military officer Lt. Gen. Haroon Aslam, currently serving as Chief of Logistic Staff, was not considered for the position.
Mahmood was serving as Chief of General Staff before his elevation to the post of CJCSC.
The government had earlier said it would announce the next army chief on the day General Kayani retires.
A change of command ceremony has been planned for Nov 29.
Kayani’s retirement from the post comes after rules were relaxed to grant him an extension in July 2010 by the PPP-led coalition government in what then prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said was in the interest of continuity at a time when the war on terror was successfully continuing against elements who wanted to impose a system of their choice on the country.