 |
| |
WEEKLY
SECTIONS |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Kayani replaces Musharraf as COAS tomorrow |
|
|
|
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Musharraf to take oath as civilian president on Thursday
By Shakil Shaikh
ISLAMABAD: Vice Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani will assume command of the Pakistan Army as Chief of Army Staff on Wednesday (November 28) after President General Pervez Musharraf doffs his uniform.
President General Musharraf, who took command of the Pakistan Army on October 7, 1998 after removal of the then COAS General Jehangir Karamat by the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, will finally hand over the most powerful office in Pakistan to his successor General Kayani.
President General Musharraf will start his farewell visits to all military headquarters from Tuesday (Nov 27) before he chairs a corps commanders’ conference on Wednesday, a day before he takes oath as civilian President.
“Yes, Genernal Kayani will assume the command of Pakistan Army on Wednesday, and farewell visits of President General Musharraf will start from Tuesday,” Maj Gen (Retd.) Rashid Qureshi, media advisor to the President, confirmed to ‘The News’.
By doffing his uniform a day before he takes oath as civilian president General Musharraf fulfills the pledge he made to the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The apex court has declared him a valid, lawful candidate following which the Election Commission has issued a notification of his success in the presidential election held on October 6. President Musharraf had won the presidential election but the Supreme Court headed by the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry withheld the result till the final outcome of the petitions filed against his nomination as presidential candidate.
From Tuesday, the President in his capacity as COAS would start visiting Joint Staff Headquarters, Naval, Air Force and General Headquarters on “farewell visits.” The first indication of the doffing of uniform by General Musharraf came when he appointed the then Director-General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt. Gen. Kayani as VCOAS and promoted him to the rank of four-star general. In the same order, he also announced that General Kayani would assume the command of Pakistan Army as COAS on vacation of the office of the COAS by him. This scribe broke this all-important story on Geo Network on October 2.
The change of command in the Pakistan Army would come after more than nine years, as after seizing power and overthrowing the government of Nawaz Sharif on October 12, 1999 COAS General Musharraf assumed the office of Chief Executive and succeeded President Rafiq Tarar in June 2001.
President Musharraf, however, held three offices with him - COAS, Chairman JCSC and the Chief Executive. He became elected president after holding a referendum and securing a confidence vote. He, however, kept the office of COAS with him as an essential element to be the most powerful president in the history of Pakistan.
When General Kayani takes over from General Musharraf as COAS, it would set a new precedent in national history as no sitting President had handed over the office of COAS to his successor.
As COAS, General Musharraf took a number of important steps including his decision of joining the international war on terror after 9/11, holding polls in 2002, introducing a new local government system and sending the Sharif family into exile. But his most controversial decision was that of removing Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry after sending a reference on March 9 to the Supreme Judicial Council. A full bench of the Supreme Court later restored the Chief Justice. Musharraf survived the crisis and was later elected president with the full backing of the PML-Q and allies. At that time he promised to doff his uniform, which he would be doing on Wednesday.
His decisions of imposing emergency and promulgation of PCO were also validated by the Supreme Court, following which the Election Commission announced elections on January 8, 2008.
It is learnt that after chairing the meeting of Corps Commanders in his capacity as COAS on Wednesday, he would relinquish the charge of the Army Chief and hand over this psot to General Kayani.
On the following day, President Musharraf will take oath as civilian president for a five-year term. He will continue to be the supreme commander of Pakistan’s armed forces as enshrined in the constitution. AFP adds: President Gen Pervez Musharraf will take oath of office as a civilian president on Thursday after quitting as Army chief, his spokesman said, giving the first official schedule for the end of military rule. “My information is that he will take the oath as a civilian president on Thursday,” Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum told AFP.
|
|
|
| Back
| Send
this story to Friend | Print
Version |
|
|
CJ says good governance being compromised
By Sohail Khan
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said on Tuesday that good governance is being compromised as it is believed that the administration of justice is the sole duty of courts or the legal fratern more |
|
|
Hakimullah dies of wounds in Multan?
By Mushtaq Yusufzai
PESHAWAR: Reports about the death of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud once again started circulating on Tuesday and this time it was being reported that the militant commander had succumb more |
|
|
MNAs seek solution to Sindh-Punjab water rift
ISLAMABAD: Members of the National Assembly on Tuesday urged for the resolution of the water crisis between Punjab and Sindh, failing which would lead to serious repercussions for the country.
Yousuf Tal more |
|
|
Good governance hinges on change in national behaviour: PM
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that change in the collective behaviour of the nation is necessary for the promotion of good governance. He said that his government believed in streng more |
|
|
NIC made mandatory to get sugar from USC outlets
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet on Tuesday made it mandatory to produce national identity cards to get a pack of 2kg sugar from the USC outlets.
The ECC met here unde more |
|
|
|
Three provinces to hold LG polls in four months
By Hanif Khalid & Asim Yasin
ISLAMABAD: A high level meeting here on Tuesday at the Aiwan-e-Sadr decided that the chief ministers of Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan would hold local government elections in four months.
President Asif Al more |
|
|
|
Senators condemn attack on Sh Rashid
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Senators on Tuesday strongly condemned the murder attempt on Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) members advised Sheikh Rashid to stop more |
|
|
|
PIA obliges religiously; latest being religious minister
By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), facing a mind-boggling loss of about Rs70billion, has quietly upgraded two seats of Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi and his wife fr more |
|
|
|
A brigadier without brigade has a history of thrashing
By Umar Cheema
ISLAMABAD: The basher-brigadier of the National University of Modern Languages (NUML), who assaulted his professor colleague late Thursday, has a long list of such incidents on his credit as his resume is sprin more |
|
|
|
PAC settles drought money misuse
By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: A special committee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) probing misuse of drought funds worth million of rupees on Tuesday conveniently settled majority of charges against deputy auditor general o more |
|
|
|
NA-55 by-polls
By our correspondent
LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has urged all the political parties, including the PML-N, to withdraw from the NA-55 by-polls in favour of Sheikh Rashid.
“ more |
|
|
|
Point scoring be avoided in Rashid attack case: Shahbaz
By our correspondent
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said the Rawalpindi incident on Monday had grieved every Pakistani.
He said a joint investigation team comprising federal and provincial agencies including I more |
|
|
|
SC moved against delay in judges’ appointment
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was moved on Tuesday against the government’s delay in the appointment of judges in the apex court and was prayed for directing the government to perform its constitutional duty by more |
|
|
|
‘74 killed in Bajaur operation’
By Hasbanullah Khan
KHAR: Security forces claimed to have killed 74 militants and injured 54 others and wrested the strategically important hilltops and areas from the insurgents during the weeklong military operation in the Mamon more |
|
|
|
Afghan unrest kills US, French soldiers
KABUL: A US and French soldiers were killed in attacks in southern and eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, the alliance said.
The US service member was killed in an improvised bomb blast in southern Afghanis more |
|
|
|
Army called in for today’s Lakki by-election
By our correspondent
PESHAWAR: The government has requisitioned the services of the Pakistan Army to augment the police and civil security forces for conducting the NWFP Assembly by-election on PF-75 Lakki Marwat for which polling more |
|
|
|
Meeting discusses political issues
ISLAMABAD: A meeting held here at the presidency on Tuesday and presided over jointly by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani discussed political and development issues in the N more |
|
|
|
Rashid accuses PML-N of promoting criminal culture
ISLAMABAD: Head of Awami Muslim League, Sheikh Rashid, on Tuesday criticised the PML-N-led Punjab government for promoting criminal culture in Rawalpindi and the province.
Talking to a private TV channel more |
|
|
|
Briefs...
Over 64 dead in Afghan avalanches
KABUL: At least 24 bodies have been recovered and 40 other people are feared dead after avalanches swept vehicles into a ravine and trapped cars in a mountain pass overn more |
|
|
|
ISSN 1563-9479 
