Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has to make a tough decision in the coming weeks about who should run Pakistan’s military, one that will have a major influence on the country’s often strained relationships with the United States and India.
With Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif saying he will step down when his tenure ends in November, the Prime Minister decides who gets it.
Overshadowing the process has been speculation in the media and by some government officials that the General may seek to hold on to some or all of his powers even after his term is finished.
The General is immensely popular among ordinary Pakistanis, who see him as a bulwark against crime, corruption and militant violence.
The premier's favourite, the aides said, was Lieutenant General Javed Iqbal Ramday, commander of XXXI Corps who led a 2009 operation to drive the Pakistani Taliban militant movement from Swat Valley.
