— Former PM walks tightrope between embracing ‘political compulsions’ and bridging gap with powerful establishment
LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Just a day after Imran Khan called the meeting between Shehbaz Sharif and Nawaz Sharif, supreme leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), to discuss the appointment of the next army chief a “tragedy”, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Saturday said the former prime minister was not interested in the process to appoint the successor to Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa who is due to retire on November 29.
Addressing a rally of charged supporters in Jhang a day after the party resumed the protest march on Islamabad to demand snap elections, Asad Umar, secretary general of the opposition party, said Khan “has no interest” to appoint a military chief of his choice as he has “no extraconstitutional job that he wants institutions to perform.”
He said whoever “deserves the office on merit, should get it.”
Conflicting signals are emanating from the office of the chairman of arguably Pakistan’s largest political party on the way Khan is dealing with the issue of the all-important appointment.
Just a day earlier, Khan, while addressing participants of the march in Gujrat through a video-link, observed it was “tragic” that a “convict” — former prime minister Sharif — was being consulted on the nation’s important matters by a person who he said succeded him “through a conspiracy”.
Before that, on November 8, Khan said he didn’t see any problem — anymore — if the appointment is made by the Sharif administration. Asked whether he had demanded the appointment be made in consultation with him and/or his party, Khan told a group of journalists: “No, they can appoint whoever they want.”
Objected to the meeting in London on Saturday, Umar, however, compared it to “as if decisions of a family-limited business” were being taken. He also recalled that Nawaz was “not only a suspect but a convict” in a host of corruption cases.
He also added that PTI was the party to succeed with the greatest majority from Jhang in 20 constituencies’ elections in July.
The march for “Haqeeqi [real] Azaadi” is not just Khan’s “war”, the “people of the country are also an equal part of it,” he added, urging the supporters to stand by Khan during the “struggle”.
The party relaunched the march in Wazirabad on Thursday, the same town where gunmen attacked and wounded Khan a week earlier, after the former prime minister told his supporters to keep up the anti-government march.
Heavy police contingents were deployed for the security of the marchers.
“Our march wouldn’t stop,” Khan said, adding the protest will instead gather strength as it closes on Islamabad.
Khan said nothing could deter him from going ahead as long as the snap polls were not called, adding that he would join the protest march in Rawalpindi in some days.
“I will not back off as long as I’m alive,” he said.
Prime Minister Sharif has rejected the demand, saying the election will be held as scheduled later next year.
