Photo courtesy PTI
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday implied one or more of the candidates for the country’s next Chief of Army Staff—set to replace incumbent Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa in November—may help lawmakers of the ruling coalition protect their “looted wealth.”
Addressing a political rally in Faisalabad while 30 percent of the country remains underwater, impacting over 33 million people, the ousted prime minister accused the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) of opposing early elections so they could “appoint an Army chief of their choice” to avoid accountability in corruption cases. Specifically naming PPP’s Asif Ali Zardari and PMLN’s Nawaz Sharif, he alleged they were endeavoring to bring a “favorite” Army chief after the retirement of Gen. Bajwa.
“They want to bring their own Army chief. They are afraid that if a strong and patriotic Army chief is appointed then he would ask them about the looted wealth,” he said, implying an “unpatriotic” Army chief could be among the candidates for the top slot. Stressing that the next Army chief should be chosen purely on merit, he had described Zardari and Sharif as “traitors” who could not be trusted with the fate of the country.
“They are sitting [in government] because they want to bring in an Army chief of their choice through joint efforts,” he said, reiterating the Army chief should be “appointed on merit … whoever is on the top of the merit list should be appointed.”
Gen. Bajwa, appointed as the Chief of Army Staff in 2016, was set to retire in 2019 but was granted a three-year extension that expires in the last week of November. The military spokesman has already stated that Gen. Bajwa has no desire to seek another extension, adding that a new Army chief would be appointed by the sitting prime minister.
Khan’s allegations and implied messaging has provoked outrage and condemnations on both social and mainstream media, with analysts questioning what the PTI chairman hopes to achieve by politicizing the military appointment. In a statement posted on Twitter on Monday morning, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif joined the chorus, alleging Khan was trying to undermine the country. “Imran Niazi’s despicable utterances to malign institutions are touching new levels every day,” he said. “He is now indulging in direct mudslinging and poisonous allegations against armed forces and its leadership. His nefarious agenda is clearly to disrupt and undermine Pakistan,” he added.
Economic crunch
In his Sunday’s speech, Khan also alleged his opposition was afraid of holding snap elections because they fear being “wiped out” from politics. Citing a report issued by the International Monetary Fund last week, he said it had warned of unrest in Pakistan due to precarious economic situation. The same report also stressed that a key reason for the current economic crunch was the PTI-led government’s repeated deviations from the bailout program it had inked with the global lender; Khan did not make any mention of this in the speech.