Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Saturday appointed Lt Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa as new Chief of Army Staff and Lt Gen Zubair Hayat as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. President Mamnoon Hussain approved promotion of Lt Gen Bajwa and Lt Gen Hayat to the positions of four-star general on the advice of the Prime Minister. Both the generals would take up their new posts from Tuesday, the day when incumbent Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif retires.
Others contenders for the post of Army Chief were Multan Corps Commander Lt Gen Ishfaq Nadeem, Bahawalpur corps Commander Lt Gen Javed Iqbal Ramday, and Corps Commander Gujranwala Lt Gen Ikramul Haq. The formal process for nomination of army chief starts with the General Headquarters sending a list of the senior-most generals to the prime minister via the Ministry of Defence, but without making any formal recommendations. The prime minister then holds informal consultations with the outgoing army chief before announcing his decision.
Prime Minister Sharif called on President Hussain at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Saturday and the former took the President into confidence on appointment to the office of chairman joint chief of staff committee and chief of army staff. Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said that his ministry had forwarded a summary containing the names of five senior most generals to the prime minister for the appointments of COAS and CJCSC.
The Prime Minister has made the appointments after consultation, he said, adding the new army chief will take the mission of General Raheel Sharif forward. General Qamar Bajwa was commissioned in 16 Bloch Regiment on October 24, 1980. He is a graduate of Canadian Forces Command and Staff College, Toronto, Canada; Naval Post Graduate University, Monterey, California, USA; and National Defence University, Islamabad.
Bajwa has remained an instructor at School of Infantry and Tactics, Quetta; Command and Staff College, Quetta; and National Defence University, Islamabad. He has also served as Brigade Major of an infantry brigade and Chief of Staff of Rawalpindi Corps. He has commanded 16 Baloch Regiment, an Infantry Brigade and also commanded Infantry Division in Northern Areas (Commander FCNA). He has also commanded Pakistan Contingent in Congo and also commanded Rawalpindi Corps. He is presently Inspector General Training and Evaluation at the General Headquarters.
The new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Zubair Mahmood Hayat was commissioned in Artillery Regiment on October 24, 1980. He is a graduate of Fort Sill Oklahoma, the US; Command and Staff College, Camberley, the United Kingdom; and National Defence University, Islamabad. He has wide experience of command, staff and instructional appointments. He has commanded an artillery regiment, mechanised division artillery, an infantry brigade and an infantry division.
Hayat has been adjutant at Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), Brigade Major of an Infantry Brigade, and Army and Air adviser at Pakistan Embassy in the UK. He has also been Chief of Staff of a strike Corps, private secretary to COAS and Director General Staff Studies Directorate at GHQ, Rawalpindi. He had also held the position of Director General Strategic Plan Division (SPD). Besides, he has commanded 31 Corps Bahawalpur and is presently Chief of General Staff at the GHQ.