Former Army Chief General (retd) Raheel Sharif has said that he did not want to extend his tenure and he had already announced it but some PML-N leaders wanted him to extend it.
According to senior journalist Ansar Abbasi, he contacted former Army Chief General (retd) Raheel Sharif through Lieutenant General (retd) Amjad Shoaib. General Raheel Sharif told Amjad Shoaib that when he started leaving after meeting Nawaz Sharif in the Prime Minister's Office, Shahbaz Sharif and Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan approached him. But he made it clear to him that he was extending his tenure. He did not want to because he had announced several months ago that he would not seek further extension after completing his three-year term.
According to Raheel Sharif, the PML-N leaders insisted that since the country was still fighting terrorism, General Raheel Sharif had restored peace in Karachi and the government wanted him to continue his services.
According to Amjad Shoaib, when Raheel Sharif again expressed hesitation, he was offered the post of Field Marshal, which he again refused because he did not have such a leadership. They did not want a symbolic position where there was nothing for them to do. It is then claimed that the PML-N leaders told General Raheel Sharif that the government was considering empowering the post of Field Marshal.
General Raheel Sharif told Amjad Shoaib that he had never discussed the matter with anyone on his own.
It may be recalled that the issue of extension of General Raheel Sharif's tenure came to the fore in recent days when Lieutenant General (retd) Ghulam Qadir Baloch announced his separation from PML-N. He said he had been told by then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that Raheel Sharif wanted to extend his tenure.
