Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Tuesday that no consultation on the appointment of new chief of army staff began so far. Speaking at a private news channel talk show, the minister said that General Raheel Sharif would continue till November 29 and a decision regarding the new army chief would be possible by November 27. He made it clear that Pakistan Army has been supporting democracy in the country for the last 8 years.
He parried questions on news leak saying that he had nothing to do with that and other people in the government were aware of the progress and an inquiry committee had been formed to investigate the issue. He said he had no knowledge of any sort of connection between the inquiry committee's head (a retired judge) and the ruling Sharif family. Khawaja Asif said that Opposition parties had no concrete evidence of Panama Papers Leaks-related corruption.