PM returns after talks with Nawaz about next army chief
IMRAN MAKES U-TURN OVER ‘US-BACKED CONSPIRACY’ BEHIND HIS OUSTER
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif landed at the Islamabad International Airport yesterday after spending almost a week abroad, first in Sharm Al Shaikh, Egypt, where he attended COP27 summit, and later in London, where he met his elder brother, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, and the senior leadership of his party Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N).
It has been widely speculated in Pakistan that during his stay in London, the PM held several rounds of discussions and consultations with Nawaz Sharif to take some crucial decisions, the first and the foremost being the appointment of the next army chief of the country.
The appointment is due as the superannuation date of the incumbent chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, is drawing closer.
The government has to pick one of the available five or six senior most officers of the Lieutenant General rank for the post before November 29.
Senior most officer next army chief?
Although the government including the prime minister, federal ministers and senior leaders of the party are keeping mum over who will be the next army chief, the national media
is abuzz with the news that the London meeting between the two brothers ended with a conclusion; they decided to appoint the senior most officer the next army chief. The government spokespersons, however, refuse to confirm any such report and insist the decision once taken will be made public.
Federal Minister for Defence, Khawaja Mohammad Asif yesterday while responding to a journalist’s question confirmed that during the London meetings, issues of national importance were discussed. However, he declined to give any further details.
Responding to a question about the appointment of the army chief, he said it was the sole prerogative of the PM to appoint the next army chief.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), former Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken a U-turn on his earlier stance of the US’ involvement/conspiracy behind his government’s dissolution in April this year.
Imran’s marked departure from ‘US conspiracy’
In an interview with Financial Times, Imran Khan made these remarks which have come as a surprise for many because since his removal from office through a vote of no confidence, the PTI leader has been blaming a foreign conspiracy for his ouster and the US administration for being key to his exit.
The PTI chairman also termed his visit to Moscow on the eve of the war in Ukraine “embarrassing”. However, he said the visit had been scheduled months in advance.
Pakistan’s Minister for Climate Change, Senator Sherry Rehman has termed Khan’s Uturn the “Mother of U-turns”.
“Imran Khan’s narrative of the US-backed conspiracy behind his ouster caused serious diplomatic damage to the country and now merely giving a statement during an interview you cannot undo that damage,” she said.
Imran compromised Pakistan’s interests
She added, “Imran Khan could not be pardoned after retracting from his narrative and he will be held accountable.”
The minister said that on the basis of this narrative, chaos and lies were spread throughout the country.
“After terming the Parliament, the Pakistan Army, the national institutions as traitors, he can’t be let off just by saying it’s behind me and it’s over, Marriyum added.
The PTI head forced people at constitutional positions to violate the constitution for the sake of his concocted story, she remarked.
Khan, she said, had no option but to surrender his fake rhetoric of the conspiracy and imported government and regime change. “Imran Khan put Pakistan’s interests in grave danger for the lust for power,” she added.