Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif faces a key choice in the coming weeks about who should run Pakistan's powerful military, one that will have a major influence on the country's often strained relationships with the United States and nuclear rival India. With Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif saying he will step down when his tenure ends in November, the top post is up for grabs, and the prime minister decides who gets it. Overshadowing the process has been speculation in the media and by some government officials that the general, no relation to the premier, may seek to hold on to some or all of his powers even after his term is finished. The general is immensely popular among ordinary Pakistanis, who see him as a bulwark against crime, corruption and Islamist militant violence. He has also strengthened the military's grip over aspects of government, including the judiciary and areas of security policy. Yet the military flatly rejects the possibility of an extension. "I will request you to avoid speculations, because we have already taken a position very clearly," Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa, the army's main spokesman, told a recent press briefing. The military declined to comment further and said General Sharif was not available for interview. In a country prone to military coups, including one in which Nawaz Sharif himself was ousted from power in 1999, suspicions that the general will remain in his post persist, including among some of the prime minister's senior aides. Reuters has no independent evidence to corroborate this view. "Army chiefs soon begin to think they are invincibles-in-chief," said a close aide to Nawaz Sharif, requesting anonymity as he was not authorized to speak about military appointments. What happens at the top of Pakistan's armed forces will be closely watched overseas. With nearly 10,000 US troops in Afghanistan fighting the Afghan Taliban and other militant groups, Washington is losing patience with what it says is Pakistan's failure to hunt down insurgents who launch attacks on Afghanistan from Pakistani territory. Pakistan denies this. India has ratcheted up rhetoric against Pakistan, alarmed at an escalation of violence in the disputed region of Kashmir, including an attack on an army base there that killed 18 soldiers. Islamabad denies accusations it was behind the raid. According to three close aides to the prime minister and a senior military official, the military high command has sent the prime minister the dossiers of four main contenders. — Reuters
