After Pakistan SC verdict on Nawaz Sharif, all eyes on Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa

Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who has till now kept himself away from Panama Papers probe against Nawaz Sharif, could be eyeing the vacant post.

Islamabad: Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigned on Friday after the country's Supreme Court disqualified him and ruled that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader was unfit to hold office.

The court also ordered a criminal investigation into Sharif's family over corruption allegations, stemming from the Panama Papers leak in 2016.

Sharif`s ruling PML-N party, which has a majority in Parliament, is expected to name a new prime minister to hold office until elections due next year.

With a political vacuum in the country, the role of Pakistani Army and its Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who has till now kept himself away from Panama Papers probe against Nawaz Sharif, becomes extremely important.

Here is a brief profile of General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who was appointed by Sharif in November 2016:

- Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has extensive experience of handling affairs in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the northern areas.

- Nawaz Sharif had appointed Bajwa as Chief of Army Staff (COAS) by elevating him to the rank of four-star general.

- Bajwa was earlier serving as Inspector General of the Training and Evaluation.

- He has also commanded the famed 10 Corps, the Army’s largest, which is responsible for the area along the Line of Control (LoC).

- As a major general, he led the Force Command Northern Areas. He also served in the 10 Corps as lieutenant colonel.

Pakistan SC disqualifies Nawaz Sharif from office: Not a single PM completed five-year term in the country since 1947

- He has also served with a UN mission in Congo as a brigade commander alongside former Indian Army chief Gen Bikram Singh, who was also there as a division commander. Previously, he also remained the commandant of the Infantry School in Quetta.

- The Pakistani Army chief is from the infantry’s Baloch Regiment, which has given three officers to the post of Army chief - Gen Yahya Khan, Gen Aslam Beg and Gen Ashfaq Perviaz Kayani.