How Imran Khan's 2014 Islamabad sit-in led to General Qamar Bajwa's appointment as Pakistani Army Chief

Islamabad: General Qamar Bajwa's "pro- democracy credentials" influenced Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to appoint him as Pakistani Army Chief, media reports said.

A report published in Dunya News said that the decision to appoint General Qamar Bajwa as Chief of Army Staff (COAS) was taken keeping in mind his pro-democracy credentials, which he displayed during Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) sit-in in Islamabad in 2014.

“Bajwa got the distinction over the other generals when he was commanding 10 Corps during the sit-in days in Islamabad. He said that as the commander of 10 Corps, which looks after the region ranging from Rawalpindi all the way to Siachen, General Qamar Javed Bajwa stood firm against any arguments of a military intervention,” a Dunya News report said.

The media commented that Prime Minister Sharif wanted to appoint an army chief who should be military expert as well as backing democracy in the Islamic nation.

Another leading daily, Dawn said, "Gen Bajwa's relatively more moderate view of the relationship with the civilian government, it is said, proved to be the decisive factor in Prime Minister Sharif's decision."

Dawn also said that Prime Minister Sharif named the new military command, appointing Gen Bajwa and Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), respectively, in the hope of stabilising the fragile civil-military balance.