Who will be the next army chief? The
question has generated some interest after General Musharraf's
announcement that he would consider and name his successor
before he steps down as army chief in December 2004.
Now, what importance should
be attached to seniority in the selection and appointment
of the next army chief? That remains to be seen. It is
to be noted that for promotions from rank of major and
above, seniority is counted as only one major factor.
These are all 'selection' promotions that depend on several
other factors. Some of these are: professional competence,
personal character, loyalty, work attitude, number of
courses passed and, above all, grades earned in the annual
confidential reports (ACRs) prepared by their superior
officers.
All promotions above the
rank of major and up to major- general must go through
the annual GHQ selection board held during the formation
commanders' conference. Promotions to the rank of lieutenant-general
and general remain the exclusive privilege of the president/prime
minister at the recommendation of the army chief.
In almost all promotions
to the top slot from Ayub to Musharraf, seniority was
noticeably sidelined, even if considered and, in a number
of cases, even caused a good deal of controversy. Ayub
was promoted over the head of at least two of his senior
major-generals, Mohammad Akbar Khan and N.A.M. Raza. General
Akbar happened to be the senior most general officer of
the Pakistan Army. His personal number was PA-I.
Ayub's successor General
Mohammad Musa's promotion over the head of two of his
seniors - major-generals Sher Ali Khan and Latif Khan,
both commissioned from Sandhurst in 1933 - caused much
bad blood and bitter controversy. Sher Ali and Latif Khan
both resigned. However, while Sher Ali stood retired,
Latif took back his resignation at the personal intercession
of Ayub. Musa was commissioned from the Indian Military
Academy (first course) in 1935, but had his service in
the ranks count towards full seniority as well as pension
to gain an advantage over the two senior generals.
Yahya Khan, who took over
from Musa in September 1966, was promoted chief over the
head of two senior lieutenant-generals, Altaf Qadir and
Bakhtiar Rana. He tumbled through his fateful and traumatic
period and tumbled out of it in the black December of
1971.
Lt-Gen Gul Hassan, the old
cavalier, hopped on the high horse riderless after Yahya
Khan's disgraceful fall. He superseded his senior, Lieut.
Gen. Tikka Khan, Commander II Corps, Multan. Gul happened
to be the last commander-in-chief and the first and the
last one in the rank of lieutenant-general to have commanded
the army.
He was summarily retired
by President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on March 2, 1972 in spite
of his confirmed three-year tenure as C-in-C. Bhutto promoted
Tikka Khan to full general and appointed him as chief
of the army staff (COAS) instead of C-in-C. Tikka's promotion
to full general, as a superseded lieutenant-general, remains
the only example of its kind on the Pakistan Army list.
He completed his tenure in
1976 to leave prime minister Bhutto at sixes and sevens
about his successor. He was looking for a person professionally
compliant and personally loyal to him. On top of the list
of senior lieutenant-generals was Gen Mohammad Sharif
followed by Gen Mohammad Akbar Khan, Aftab Ahmad Khan,
Azmat Awan, Abdul Majid, Ghulam Jeelani and Mohammad Ziaul
Haq. Tikka had recommended Akbar for the top slot.
An ex-ISI chief and politically-oriented,
Akbar was distrusted and seen as a potential coup-maker
both by Bhutto and his personal secretary Afzal Saeed
Khan. He was rejected out of hand.
After detailed consultation
with his personal staff, Bhutto chose the senior-most
Gen Sharif and junior-most Gen Zia, respectively, to be
chairman, joint chiefs of staff committee and the chief
of the army staff - a clean sweep of the seniority list.
Zia's vice-chiefs of staff,
Sawar, Iqbal and Arif - all full generals - retired without
making the top slot. Gen Mirza Aslam Beg, the incumbent
vice-chief at the time of the Bahawalpur crash, hit his
lucky patch and made it to the top.
Amongst Beg's successors,
Asif Nawaz died while still half way through his tenure,
Wahid Kakar completed his tenure, and Jehangir Karamat
was summarily retired by Nawaz Sharif in October 1998
- just about four months short of completing his tenure.
He yielded place to Lt Gen Pervez Musharraf, Commander,
I Corps, Mangla.
It would be seen that seniority
hardly had a part to play in any of the above promotions.
Except perhaps for Jehangir Karamat, all others were placed
way down the seniority list. Gen Pervez Musharraf himself
superseded two seniors, Ali Quli Khan and Khalid Nawaz.
It would be interesting to
see who makes it to the top job after Gen Musharraf. May
be a senior major-general or one of newly promoted lieut.
generals.
