general qamar javed bajwa the chief of pakistans army is set to retire on november 29 paving the way for prime minister shehbaz sharif to name a new commander to lead the influential military at a politically tense time for the south asian countrythe appointment expected by friday has been at the heart of tensions between sharif and former premier imran khan who was ousted in april in a noconfidence vote khan has said a new army chief should only be named after the country holds snap elections which he is confident of winning after sweeping several local polls khan himself has publicly clashed with the military which has ruled the country for about half of its history and retains outsized influence over elected governments he has blamed sharif for conspiring with the us to oust him while accusing the army of not doing enough to save his government he has also alleged the prime minister his interior minister and a senior general were behind a shooting attack at one of his rallies earlier this month that left him with leg injuries here are the leading contenders for the joblieutenant general asim munir the general from the frontier force regiment has led the nations elite spy agencies the interservices intelligence that focuses on security and military intelligence he has served under bajwas direct command in the oftentroubled northern areas that border afghanistan china and india khan had removed munir as isi chief within eight months of his appointment and replaced him with an officer considered close to him news reports suggest munirs appointment would be a setback for the former premier he is currently serving at the army headquarters as quartermaster general charged with overseeing supplies for all military units munir can only get the top job if sharif picks him ahead of his retirement on nov 27 army generals in pakistan retire at 64 however this isnt applicable to the army chieflieutenant general sahir shamshad mirza the threestar general is the seniormost serving officer in the army after bajwa as director general of military operations he oversaw strikes against the tehreekitaliban pakistan and other militant groups in the north waziristan province near the afghan borderlieutenant general faiz hamid the most talkedabout army commander on the list is believed to be a khan loyalist he was in charge of the isi when the taliban returned to power in afghanistan he was photographed sipping tea at kabuls iconic serena hotel as the militant groups top leaders debated who would helm the nation the photograph was viewed as sign that the powerful spy agency had a key role to play in the process the baloch regiment officer has been seen as instrumental to khans rise and later the reason why khan went head to head with bajwalieutenant general azhar abbas abbas currently holds the second most important position in the military chief of general staff overseeing the militarys operational and intelligence business he has served in