ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday declared what he called the ruling coalition’s effort to create a divide between party chairman Imran Khan and the military “an absurd move”, saying the prosperity of the country and its people had always been the top priority of the ex-prime minister.

Speaking at a presser here, he said: “Imran Khan has clearly said that he doesn’t have a single penny abroad […] the person who has all the interests in Pakistan would always want the country’s army to strengthen”.

The PTI leader’s statements came in response to the government’s allegations that Khan and his party members were spreading hate against the country’s institutions, and after the recent arrest of Shahbaz Gill, the chief staff to the PTI chairman, on charges of “sedition” and “inciting masses against state institutions”.

Chaudhry asserted that Pakistan’s progress was directly dependent on its army, clarifying that that was exactly what the PTI chairman also wanted.

“Whatever Imran Khan has done for the country, it is for the public, and Pakistan’s public and army are not separate […] the army is a part of the people,” he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022