ISLAMABAD: G
eneral Zubair Mehmood Hayat will take the char
ge of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) from the outgoing G
eneral Rashad Mehmood at the JS Headquarters today (Monday).
Elevated from the Chief of G
eneral Staff (CGS), from three-star to four-star G
eneral, Zubair Hayat would bring with him rich experience required for the coveted office.
G
eneral Rashad was also the CGS when he was promoted to G
eneral, being atop the seniority list and appointed as Chairman CJCSC. Same happened with G
eneral Hayat when he was elev
ated to a 4-star G
eneral being atop the seniority list of three-star g
enerals.
A smooth democratic transition has occurred with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointing new Chief of the Army Staff and new Chairman JCSC with confidence.
Following G
eneral Musharraf’s decision of leaving the office of Chairman JCSC, senior most three-star G
eneral Tariq Majeed was elev
ated to 4-star G
eneral and was appointed Chairman JCSC. He was succeeded by G
eneral Kha
lid Wyne and the outgoing G
eneral Rashad Mehmood.
The trend shows that the office of Chairman JCSC has now been alloc
ated to the senior most military office after every three years. The basis of the decision to appoint a senior military officer as Chairman JCSC was firstly because of numerical strength of the Army which makes almost 80 percent of three services.
The office of Chairman JCSC has become ver
y important and it would be a big challenge for highly able G
eneral Zubair Hayat, who had served as DG SPD and thus has full knowled
ge of Pakistan’s strategic assets.
The new Army Chief G
eneral Qamar Javed will take charge tomorrow (Tuesday) in a chan
ge of command ceremony. Rehearsals for the ceremony are underway at the GHQ. Representatives of the navy, air force and members of the cabinet will attend the ceremony.
