Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) President Mian Zahid Hussain has said that Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif must continue to serve until 2018 to eliminate the menace of terrorism and lawlessness from country. He was of the view that the retirement of General Raheel would damage his widely supported agenda of brining stability by curbing economic terrorism. He that that Sindh DG Rangers Major General Bilal Akbar was also part of the team of the CoAS, that had ensured peace in Karachi and revived confidence of investors.
He lauded the extension of Rangers' stay in Karachi. However, he termed the 77-day extension as insufficient, as according to him the force should remain in Karachi until peace was not fully restored and police was not cleansed of politics. He said that the protest against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over Panama Papers continued to hit government's development agenda as well as important projects like CPEC, which was also indicated in the latest report of the World Bank.
"The government and Army are on the same page after a long time, and it is essential for the stability of the country, which was destined to become bankrupt few years back," Hussain said. He said that the development agenda of the government had also been endorsed by twenty two reputable international institutions, which was a result of the efforts of the premier and the CoAS. He was of the view that Pakistan could not afford the absence of any of the two leaders from the national landscape.