Former army chief Gen Bajwa sought extension for another term but denied, claims Siddiqui.

ISLAMABAD -- Senator Irfan Siddiqui made a disclosure on Sunday by claiming that former Chief of Army Staff General (retd) QaAmar Javed Bajwa had sought another extension beyond NoAvember 2022 but was flatly denied by the PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.

General Bajwa had been seeking an extension for anAother term and that some seAnior leaders of Pakistan MusAlim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had also advised Nawaz Sharif to consider the request, he said while talking to a select group of reporters here.

'However, Sharif remained steadfast in his belief that there should be no question of even one day's extension,' said PML-N Senator Siddiqui, a close confidant to former three-time prime minister Sharif.

Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Bajwa had reAtired on November 29 last year after completing his two terms including an extension for three years. In November 2016, then prime minister Sharif had appointed him commander of the Pakistan Army for a period of three years.

Senator Siddiqui said that GenAeral Bajwa had later proposed a name for his successor other than the sitting Army Chief GenAeral Asim Munir. But the governAment asserted itself to get the senior most officer elevated to the position, he also said.

He said that even in 2019, Sharif was vehemently against the extension of General Bajwa and the associated legislation. 'Immense pressure from some members of Muslim League (N) persuaded him to accept the decision as a temporary meaAsure,' he said. He added that Sharif to this day, considered the extension to have been a wrong decision.

Academician-turned politiAcian Siddiqui further revealed that ex-premier Sharif was not in favor of bringing a no-conAfidence motion against...

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