treatment with his patron is an open secret.
While dismissing Musharraf on October 12, 1999, Nawaz Sharif named Ziauddin Butt as the army chief, who was on number five of the seniority list. But Butt could not survive as the military chief as Musharraf imposed a martial law.
On the other hand, Musharraf’s predecessor Jehangir Karamat was appointed as the army chief by Benazir Bhutto, and he deserved the post as he was the senior-most lieutenant general at the time. He was shown the door by Nawaz Sharif before the end of his tenure.
Abdul Waheed Kakar was on number three on the seniority list of lieutenant generals but was preferred for the prestigious office. He was not the material that would impose martial law although he did get a good opportunity because of a mutually-destructive fight between the then President, Ghulam Ishaq Khan (GIK), and Nawaz Sharif in 1993. He disentangled them, paving the way for fresh general elections.
Asif Nawaz was the senior-most lieutenant general, when he was made the army chief by GIK and Nawaz Sharif. His relations with the then prime minister touched the lowest ebb a few months before his sudden death and he was then all set to intervene.
Mirza Aslam Beg was the senior most, in fact, vice chief of the army staff when Ziaul Haq was killed in a plane crash. He was quickly elevated as the military chief at the height of crisis caused by the sudden demise of the army chief.
A few months before his due date of retirement, Beg too appeared menacing, flexing his muscles to intervene, and the then civilian leadership, GIK and Nawaz Sharif, was so scared of his threatened action that Asif Nawaz was elevated as the army chief before the due retirement date of the incumbent.
As per the official procedure, the Defence Ministry is to send a panel of three senior-most lieutenant generals for appointment of the army chief, and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) on the same lines, including names from the Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Air Force, obviously those of their chiefs.