Govt woos Gen Raheel with extension offer, army chief reluctant

• Sources say govt has offered COAS either to accept extension in service or assumed post of CJCSC with extra power of army chief
• Govt sources say Gen Raheel’s leadership vital for campaign against terrorism

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government has informally made a ‘lucrative offer’ to the Army General Headquarters (GHQ) regarding an extension in the term of Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, who is set to retire in November this year, Pakistan Today has learnt reliably.

However, government sources privy to the informal talks taking place between PM House and GHQ say Gen Raheel is reluctant to accept the ‘offer’.

According to sources, three top aides of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif – Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif – are in contact with the GHQ in a bid to ‘persuade’ the COAS to accept the extension in his term “because the government wanted to ensure continuity of the anti-terrorism policy spearheaded by Gen Raheel”.

“The prime minister wants a future role for the COAS. Three options are currently on the table – an extension in Gen Raheel’s tenure as COAS; or appointment as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) with additional powers of the COAS also possibly residing with this position,” the source added.

Asked why an idea was floated to elevate the army chief as CJCSC, the source said that it would not affect the seniority and promotions of other army officials.

“This would keep the promotion process smooth. Moreover, it would also help reform the institution,” the source added.

“We are ready to offer any timeline appropriate to take Operation Zarb-e-Azb to its logical conclusion. We might offer a two-year or even a three-year extension to Gen Raheel so that he can wipe out terrorism from Pakistan,” the source said.

He said that another option was for the COAS to play a role like Gen (r) Jahangir Karamat under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1998, when Gen Karamat fully supported the constitutional powers of the civilian prime minister.

“We want General Raheel to continue serving the cause of Pakistan as his predecessor Gen Karamat did by strictly following a professional approach and respecting the mandate of the elected leadership,” the source added.

The media wing of the armed forces, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), did not offer any comments on the information.

GENERAL EXTENTIONS:

The statutory provision of extensions even in civil bureaucracy is supposed to be used sparingly and only under extraordinary circumstances.

If Gen Raheel Sharif accepts an extension, he would become the third consecutive army chief to receive an extension. His predecessors, Gen Ashfaq Kayani and Gen Pervez Musharraf, had also received extensions in their three-year tenures.

Field Marshal Ayub Khan and Gen Ziaul Haq received the most extensions – three each. Gen Musa Khan, Gen Yahya Khan and Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani all received one extension each while Gen Musharraf took extensions twice.

Sources said that the idea to empower the CJCSC with additional powers of the COAS was actually floated by former army chief General Jahangir Karamat in 1998 with an objective to create a balance in powers and for smooth functioning of the armed forces.

General Aslam Baig also wanted to assume this office but could not do so. General Kakar also failed in securing the position. ‎After Gen Karamat’s premature ouster, Gen Pervez Musharraf was first COAS to assume both offices and hence became a very strong army chief in the year 1999.

Musharraf’s growing power started causing uneasiness in the Prime Minister’s House and resulted in tensions with the GHQ. It was then that Nawaz Sharif’s late father, Mian Sharif invited the army chief for dinner at the Sharifs’ private estate in Raiwind and assured him that Nawaz and his younger brother Shehbaz would always stand beside him and that he should not have any qualms about them.

Noted military analyst General (r) Talat Masud however believes that the offer, if it is indeed being made, reflected an “immature approach of the prime minister who had failed to understand the military”.

“For me, it is more of a speculation. But if it is really a development, let’s see how this process crystallizes,” he said.

Gen Talat regretted that neither the prime minister nor the army chief were ready to learn from the past experiences of the civil-military relations.

“In a fragile democracy, institutions are not ready to learn and grow. This civil-military harmony can only develop when democratic institutions start functioning properly. In Pakistan, the parliamentary committees don’t work. Do you remember how many times the prime minister convened the National Security Council, the cabinet committee or any other committee? Without a functioning parliament, civilian authority would remain a dream,” he added.

When asked to elaborate, Gen Talat said that the idea itself was impractical as the chief of army staff was actually commander of the army troops. So the command could not be shared with the CJCSC which is just a ceremonial post.

“I think this change would make no difference practically. Even if you make this arrangement, the power would still remain with the COAS. This is why the civil-military balance is heavily tilted in favour of the army chief in Pakistan,” he added.

He said that the CJCSC can’t command troops and it was not even a coordinating office between various wings of the armed forces as happens in the United States or many other countries.

“Yes, the CJCSC looks after the nuclear part and some other functions but it is still the COAS who calls all the shots,” he said, adding that even if Gen Raheel takes up the office of an empowered CJCSC, the new army chief would not accept it and would reverse the decision.

Commenting on the issue, noted defence analyst Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi said that the offer seemed more like a “bait” to trap the army chief, who was riding a popularity wave across the country.

“I believe this is a premature offer by the prime minister as the term of the COAS will end in November this year. So the offer to a serving soldier, who is yet to serve the country for almost a full year, is beyond comprehension,” he said.

Asked what powers the CJCSC enjoyed and why the role was being offered to Gen Raheel, Rizvi said that though the slot of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee was a senior post in the armed forces’ structure, the post was more symbolic.

“It is an office for coordination among the army, air force and navy. But if the proposal is to grant powers of the army chief to CJCSC, then it means that the government wants to clip the wings of the army chief,” Rizvi said, but added that it was unlikely that the army would allow this to happen.