President House to issue 'official handout' on COAS appointment today: Fawad

Senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry said Thursday that President Dr Arif Alvi will address the issue of the next army chief's appointment as "per the law and constitution," adding that the President House will issue an "official handout" in this regard today, Aaj News reported.

Fawad's remarks came as President Alvi concluded his meeting with PTI Chairman Imran Khan at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, in which he reportedly consulted with the former premier on the appointment of the new army chief.

"The meeting between Imran Khan and President Alvi lasted 45 minutes. The President has left for Islamabad," Chaudhry said, adding that the two discussed the constitutional, political, and legal aspects of the army chief's appointment.

"The President's House will issue a handout in this regard between 6:30 and 7:00pm," he added.

Fawad said that the PTI chief advised President Alvi to review the appointment summary as per the constitution, stressing that "his party had no confrontation with any institution."

Earlier, in a separate statement, Fawad said PTI does not have “favourites” for the next army chief and denied the accusations that party chief Imran Khan was making the process of crucial appointment controversial.

The PTI leader said the issue of the army chief’s appointment should be resolved “as soon as possible”, warning that the country was on the “verge of default” due to the worsening economy.

He said the country is not under martial law due to former PM Imran Khan and added that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari were “trying hard to derail the democratic process in the country”.

“We want the important issue of the army chief’s appointment resolved in a non-controversial manner,” he added.

Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decided to appoint Lt General Syed Asim Munir as Chief of the Army Staff and Lt General Sahir Shamshad Mirza as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

This was announced by Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Thursday in a tweet. She said that the decision was made by the PM by using constitutional authority.

"A summary of this has been sent to the President of Pakistan," she tweeted.

The new COAS will take over from outgoing General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who retires on November 29 after a six-year term.