Pakistan to name new army chief by Friday: Defence minister

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will announce the new chief of Pakistan’s powerful army by Nov. 25, days before the incumbent General Qamar Javed Bajwa retires, defense minister Khawaja Asif said.

The defense ministry will send Sharif a list in a day or two of names of five or six top generals to be promoted as the chief, he told reporters in Islamabad on Monday. The premier will choose the new chief after consultations, he said.

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The appointment of Pakistan’s army chief is watched keenly because the institution wields outsized influence over the country’s politics -- particularly its foreign and defense policies. The army has also directly ruled the nuclear-armed nation for about half of its history since its creation in 1947. Bajwa retires on November 29.