Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami on Wednesday revealed that the incumbent government was not in favour of giving an extension in service to Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif, however Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan were in favour of extending Gen Raheel’s term and were making efforts in this regard.
Speaking in his talk show DNA on Channel 24, Nizami said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was desperate to return to Pakistan and spend the rest of his convalescing time at his residence in Raiwind. “The PM will be examined by his doctors on Saturday and it is being hoped that he will be allowed to travel back to Pakistan,” he said.
Nizami said that a picture of the PM is circulating on the social media which shows that he is recovering swiftly, but in reality his condition is not as good as depicted.
Despite the popular rhetoric, Nizami said, the PM is deliberating over nominating an heir to his role.
“Many people regard his daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif as the de facto prime minister, but it’s actually going to be his brother Shehbaz Sharif,” Nizami said, adding that Defence Minister Khawaja Asif would likely fill up the space left vacant by Shehbaz Sharif in case the latter is elevated to the PM’s office.
Speaking on the challenges facing Pakistan, Nizami said: “Internally, Pakistan is dealing with severe challenges and externally it is very much isolated in the region. When we look at the relations between the civilian and military leadership, they don’t appear to be on the same page.”
Even though terrorism has greatly subsided, but there is still a long way to go, Nizami said. “On top of that, new complications have surfaced; such as the tensions on the Pak-Afghan border, the matter of RAW agents and the nexus of Afghan intelligence with RAW,” he added.