Banners exhort Pakistan army chief to contest polls

ISLAMABAD: Mysterious banners have appeared in Pakistan urging the country's powerful army chief General Raheel Sharif, who is set to retire this month, to contest elections, a media report has said.

The banners put up on electricity poles in Rawalpindi urged 60-year-old Sharif to contest election in 2018.

Since government officials cannot enter politics for at least two years after leaving service, the banners urged that the mandatory period should be reduced in case of Sharif.

They claimed that election of Sharif will end tension between military and government.

It is not for the time the banners have appeared in favour of the army chief. Previously also banners addressing him had urged him to "stay on" and asked the government to extend his tenure.

In July, posters were seen in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and several other major cities, urging the general to impose martial laws instead of retiring.

The army has so far not commented on the banners.

Sharif in January announced that he would retire this year, laying to rest speculation about seeking extension in service.