Pakistan Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Tuesday assumed additional charge as the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee until a replacement is made for the top post.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rashid said appointments to the posts of Chief of Army Staff and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee will be made in accordance with the Constitutional framework.
Responding to queries, Mr. Rashid said currently Chief of the Army Staff is holding the acting charge of the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) and this position will be filled within 30 days as per Constitutional requirement.
Being the senior-most in Pakistan military, Gen. Kayani, 61, took the charge after Gen. Khalid Shameem Wynne retired on Monday.
Hours before Gen. Wynne retired on Monday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the new CJCSC and Army chief would be chosen together after “comprehensive considerations”.
Gen. Kayani has already announced that he would step down at the end of his term on November 29, 2013.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister had said on Monday, “While expectation regarding announcement of the successor to the outgoing CJCSC before October 8 is reasonable, the issue needs a comprehensive consideration due to the fact that office of the COAS is also falling vacant soon.”
He did not elaborate.
The Prime Minister “has, therefore, decided to announce the names for both the appointments at the same time”, he said.
Mr. Sharif said his government is fully cognisant of its constitutional obligations and every decision will be made keeping the country’s interests supreme.
