Lahore: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has made it very clear that he alone will appoint the army chief and he won’t buckle under any pressure on the issue.
The Dawn reported on Friday that the Prime Minister took the decision after meeting his brother and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in London.
“The Sharif brothers have reportedly decided in a London huddle that the Prime Minister will not buckle under any ‘pressure’ to make the all-important appointment — come what may,” the report said.
The decision follows pressure from Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan to appoint a new army chief acceptable to him and to announce early parliamentary elections.
The Sharif brothers also agreed not to give in to Khan’s demand for snap elections.
The Prime Minister stopped at London on Wednesday on his way back from Egypt, the Dawn said.
Meanwhile, PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif was reportedly issued a diplomatic passport with a five-year validity, it emerged on Thursday.
A senior Interior Ministry official told the Dawn that the previous such passport issued to Nawaz had expired on February 16 last year.
