ISLAMABAD: General Zubair Mehmood Hayat will take the charge of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) from the outgoing General Rashad Mehmood at the JS Headquarters today (Monday).
Elevated from the Chief of General Staff (CGS), from three-star to four-star General, Zubair Hayat would bring with him rich experience required for the coveted office.
General Rashad was also the CGS when he was promoted to General, being atop the seniority list and appointed as Chairman CJCSC. Same happened with General Hayat when he was elevated to a 4-star General being atop the seniority list of three-star generals.
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 General Musharraf’s decision of leaving the office of Chairman JCSC, senior most three-star General Tariq Majeed was elevated to 4-star General and was appointed Chairman JCSC. He was succeeded by General Khalid Wyne and the outgoing General Rashad Mehmood.
The trend shows that the office of Chairman JCSC has now been allocated 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 very important and it would be a big challenge for highly able General Zubair Hayat, who had served as DG SPD and thus has full knowledge of Pakistan’s strategic assets.
The new Army Chief General Qamar Javed will take charge tomorrow (Tuesday) in a change 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.
