Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Saturday launched a consultative process with his core group in Lahore to deal with the daunting challenges posed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) planned demonstration and the mending of souring ties with the military establishment through the appointment of the next army chief as a possible solution to both the problems.

Well-placed sources in the ruling party believe that PTI’s Islamabad lockdown campaign could easily be dealt with if the prime minister could judiciously manage the relations with the military establishment.

Relations of the federal government with the military turned sour after the minutes of a meeting on national security issues held at the PM’s House were leaked to a section of media which was then (mis)used by India to propagate against the state of Pakistan.

The army’s top brass had demanded an immediate probe into the meeting leak and holding those responsible for it accountable.

“We will teach a lesson to the PTI chief if we could manage our relations with the military. The party is mulling nomination of the next army chief which could be made in a next few days if the prime minister agreed to the proposal,” said a leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

However, naming a new army chief has been a challenge for the prime minister who has not been able to pick a successor to the sitting army chief General Raheel Sharif for the various reasons.

“The prime minister has not yet made up his mind on picking a new army chief. There is a list but due to the various reasons, the prime minister has been unable to pick a successor to General Raheel Sharif,” a cabinet member opined.

Asked about the reasons for the failure of the prime minister to pick a new army chief, the source said there were several reasons, but requested they should not to be reported.

Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, a federal cabinet member, also hinted at the appointment of the next army chief, saying that it was likely in the next week or so.

“The government is yet to finalise the nomination of the next army chief, but this decision is likely to be delivered within the next ten days or so,” Fazal told reporters in the federal capital.

KILLING TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE:

Brigadier (R) Saad Mohammad, a defence analyst, said that perhaps the federal government could kill two birds with a single stone by announcing the appointment of next army chief.

“As soon as the government announces appointment of a new army chief, the media focus will shift from the civil, military tensions as well as PTI’s Islamabad lockdown plan,” he said, adding a new debate would start which would help the government defuse both the issues simultaneously.

Asked whether or not the government’s move would also divide top military leaders, Saad admitted that the move would help impact their unity too.

“Yes, you know the officers would also get their focus shifted from the other issues and the new chief would need some time to settle down and devise his own strategy. But things could get worse too,” the former military officer observed.

CABINET MINISTERS UNAWARE WHATS COOKING UP & WHERE?

With the developments taking place very fast, most of the federal cabinet members have no clue as to what strategy the federal government is going to adopt to deal with the situation.

“Frankly speaking, I fail to understand what prompted Imran Khan to start a new campaign against the prime minister. I also fail to figure out why Islamabad is going to be sealed. Even I do not know what strategy the government will be pursuing to deal with PTI’s lockdown plan,” said a federal cabinet member, requesting not to be named.

Another cabinet member said that 90 per cent of the cabinet members had no role in government’s strategy to deal with PTI demonstrations.

“We are aliens for the Prime Minister’s House. We are never consulted on anything important,” the minister said, adding that only a few close aides were part of the discussion.

“It’s a closed group – a small group of people who are trusted souls of the PM. We are never consulted,” the minister maintained.

NO RESULT ON LEAK INQUIRY YET

While the federal government is totally focused on efforts to deal with the threats from PTI’s demonstrations, there is no visible effort for winning back the trust of the military establishment regarding the meeting leak to the media.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who leaves no stone unturned to prove himself as the government’s “macho man”, has yet failed to come up with an inquiry he had taken upon him ten days back with a claim to hold those responsible “within three to four days’ time”.

The minister had also assured a joint delegation of APNS and CPNE to come up with a conclusion last week but the minister has been conspicuous by his absence from the political scene since.

The Interior Ministry spokesman did not respond to text messages and phone calls made on his cell phone number when this scribe tried to contact him about the matter.