ISLAMABAD: The Federal Minister for Defence, Khawaja Asif, informed the National Assembly on Monday that the Defence Ministry received today – Monday – a letter from the prime minister for the appoint of the chief of new army staff and joint chiefs of staff committee which has been communicated to the general headquarters (GHQ).
Speaking on the floor of the house, he said that his ministry has received a letter from the prime minister through which he had asked the ministry to initiate the process for making the appointment to the slot of next army chief as the incumbent army chief is set to retire on November 29.
Asif said that there was a state of “unrest” now that the process for the appointment was initiated.
“It’s possible that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow or two days later or three days later this whole process will reach its completion and this unrest will subside,” he added.
The minister criticised the media for contributing to the charged atmosphere by airing news about whether the summary of the candidates for the post of army chief sent or not but not bothering to verify the information.
He said the process was being treated as if it was the only issue in the country today and nothing else, adding “this distress is at a time when our economy is weak and we can’t stand on our feet”.
“Hopefully, our effort is that this process comes to an end so that we can move towards stability,” he said, adding that this process is likely to be completed in the next two to three days.
Taking a jibe at former prime minister Imran Khan, he said that “once the issue of new army chief is settled, we will deal with the PTI chief,” adding, the PTI chief is damaging the national unity for his lust for power.
“This man [Imran Khan] stayed in power for four years and he had the full support of all the state institutions which was quite unprecedented but could not do anything for the betterment of the country, which is shameful,” he added.
He said that Imran Khan has turned to the word “neutral” into an abuse, which he uses for the military for staying “neutral” in matters pertaining to politics, adding “after the passage of 75 years, I can say with full conviction that the military is neutral”.
Referring to a claim made by a television anchor, the minister alleged that the former prime minister Imran Khan also sold a gold medal which had been given to him by India, adding all the previous governments did buy gifts from Toshakhana, “but it is only Imran Khan who sold the gifts”.
Asif said that Imran Khan is targeting the state institutions because the institution refused to help him when he asked them to save his government in the wake of the no-confidence motion moved against him by the joint opposition back in April. The PML-N leader went on to say that it is unfortunate that a man is sitting quite comfortably at home and his workers are sitting on highways, creating problems for the commuters, adding those who accept him as a leader also need to think about whether he deserves to be called a leader or not.
The minister said the sole claim of Imran Khan was that it was the US which ousted him from power through a conspiracy with the local politicians but seven months after his ouster, he backtracked claiming that he [Imran] harbours no grudges against the US.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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