After the government spent Tuesday trying to dispel the impression of a deadlock with the military over the appointment of a new army chief, the military confirmed late night that it had dispatched the summary to the defence ministry.

Although multiple ministers spent the day denying the impression that the summary had been received by the PM Office — Defence Minister Khawaja Asif even tweeted as much around 11pm after multiple TV app­earances — the brief missive from Inter-Services Pub­lic Relations simply stated: “GHQ has forwarded the summary for Selection of CJCSC and COAS, containing names of 6 senior most Lt Gens, to MoD.”

Although the communique did not mention which six names have been forwarded, it is believed that the six men currently in the running to be the next chief of army staff are (in order of seniority) Lt Gen Asim Munir (currently Quarter Master General), Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza (Commander 10 Corps), Lt Gen Azhar Abbas (Chief of General Staff), Lt Gen Nauman Mehmood (NDU Presi­dent), Lt Gen Faiz Hamid (Commander Baha­walpur Corps), and Lt Gen Mohammad Amir (Com­mander Gujranwala Corps).

Earlier, participating in a TV talk show, Mr Asif said there were no differences between the army and government and the concerns being expressed by various quarters in that regard were unfounded.

A day earlier, several PML-N leaders, including for­mer prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, had indicated that the army was impeding the process.

But the defence minister said he had conveyed to Mr Abbasi that his concerns would be allayed. A senior PML-N leader told Dawn on Tuesday that the delay in the submission of the summary could und­er­mine the government and leave the process open to spe­cula­tion and legal challenges.

PM Shehbaz Sharif is, moreover, expected to hold a consultation with Gen Bajwa on Thursday on the selection of his successor. It is a convention that the prime minister holds this discussion with the outgoing chief, however, it is described as “informal consultation.”….
https://www.dawn.com/news/1722526/govt-gets-six-names-from-ghq-for-armys-top-rank