Khawaja Asif confirms PM Office receives summary for appointment of army and joint chief

• Khawaja Asif confirms PMO receiving the summary.
  
• Just before Asif's confirmation, ISPR said it moved summary.  
  
• Names of six senior-most generals included in summary.

ISLAMABAD: Following the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed that the Prime Minister's Office has received the summary for the appointment of the top two positions in the military.

"The Prime Minister's Office has received the summary from the Ministry of Defence", the minister tweeted.

The defence minister's tweet comes almost an hour after the ISPR said Tuesday night that it had forwarded the summary to his ministry.

"GHQ has forwarded the summary for selection of CJCSC and COAS, containing names of six senior-most lieutenant general gens to Ministry of Defence," tweeted director general of the military's media wing Lieutenant General Babar Iftikhar. 

Govt refutes reports

The ISPR's statement came minutes after Asif had earlier categorically rejected the reports claiming that the PM's Office had received the much-anticipated summary for the appointment of the new chief of army staff.

Taking to Twitter, Asif said that the PM’s Office has not yet received the summary. The PMO will receive the summary at the confirmed time.”

'Summary prepared'

Earlier, sources had told The News that a summary has been prepared for the appointment of the new army chief and it will be received by the PM's Office any time.

Sources said that the names of six senior-most generals have been included in the summary of the army chief candidates.

The summary includes the names of Lieutenant General Asim Munir, Lieutenant General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Lieutenant General Azhar Abbas, Lieutenant General Nauman Mehmood, Lieutenant General Faiz Hamid and Lieutenant General Mohammad Amir as candidates for the army chief and chairman joint chiefs of staff committee posts, said the well-placed sources.

Meanwhile, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb clarified that the statement attributed to Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif regarding a summary for appointing a new army chief was false.

The PMO has yet to receive the summary, she said and urged the people not to speculate about it. The people will be informed as soon as the PM’s office receives the summary, she added.

When will army chief be appointed?

The much-anticipated appointment of the next army chief will be made in 48 hours, Asif assured earlier today. 

Asif said that nominating candidates for the post of army chief is the prerogative of the General Headquarters (GHQ).

Rejecting rumours, the minister said that there is no civil-military tension over the matter. “COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa respects Nawaz Sharif,” he added.