ISLAMABAD - Defence Minister Khawaja Asif Monday backtracked from his recent statement in which he had claimed that the issue of the appointment of new army chief was discussed during PM Shehbaz-Nawaz meeting held in London the other day. The minister ‘clarified’ that the decision to appoint new army chief is ‘strictly Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s prerogative.’ Talking to reporters outside the parliament today, he said: “Consultations have not yet taken place on the army chief’s appointment. These are just newspaper reports.” Asif clarified that the name of the new army chief had not been decided yet. “The prime minister has discretion regarding the army chief’s appointment. Therefore, the prime minister will make a decision on the appointment,” he added. A few days ago, speaking in Geo News programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath, Asif said he accompanied Premier Shehbaz to London to seek Nawaz Sharif’s guidance on the issue of army chief’s appointment. “Basically, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and I visited Muhammad Nawaz Sharif to seek his guidance on the appointment of the army chief,” Asif said, adding that PTI chief Imran Khan wanted to make the army chief’s appointment a controversial issue. Also, in an interview with Hamid Mir late Monday, Asif alleged that Imran was trying to make the army chief’s appointment “controversial” since last October. “We often meet Mian Nawaz Sharif to discuss several issues […] but no consultation has been held on this matter,” he reiterated, adding that the process of the crucial appointment had not even begun yet. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif quashed the reports about consultations over the appointment of new army chief between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) Quaid Nawaz Sharif in London and disclosed that consultation over the subject has not taken place yet. Speaking to media persons outside the Parliament House, Kh Asif while reacting to the last day’s address of PTI chief Imran Khan, said that Imran has changed his narrative on the American conspiracy against his government, adding that it will still be called a conspiracy. The Minister said it was the first time that Khan had denied something which he said earlier. “He (Imran) denies everything. In the past four years, he has talked so much. Has he stood by any of his statements,” the minister questioned the PTI chief. When asked if a decision on the army chief’s appointment has been made, Khawaja said that “Consultations have not yet taken place on the army chief’s appointment. These are just newspaper reports and have no reality.” Responding to another question about who would take decision on the appointment of new army chief, and the role of former PM Nawaz Sharif in the appointment, Khawaja Asif said that it will be done at the prime minister’s discretion and he will decide it. Earlier, speaking in the National Assembly session on a point of order, Defence Minister Kh Asif said Imran should pay the political price for his lies as ‘this is right time for accountability’. “Imran Khan is trying to build a real freedom narrative ...Continuously taking U-turn over his political statements,” he said. The minister said the political rhetoric in the past and this recent stance regarding ‘real freedom’ lacks substantiality. The coalition government, after taking the reins, has avoided political vendetta against the opponent parties. The political cases against the members of opposition parties saw its peak in Imran Khan’s government era, he said. About the PTI’s long march, he said that people are not welcoming the long march. “For last two weeks the PTI’s long march marchers have been roaming,” he said, adding Imran Khan is blaming the coalition government about the matter of registering FIR in the firing case. “The arrested accused person has not yet been presented before the court,” he said, mentioning that the politics of ‘Imran Khan is a pack of lies’. He claimed that Imran Khan is taking money from different quarters. “I can share names of financers,” he challenged. He said Imran Khan should pay the political price for his lies that he spoke to the nation for his political gains. Imran Khan was voted out through no-trust motion but he attempted to damage the Constitution. “The court timely intervened as he was up to damage the Constitution,” he said, adding that it was a bad tradition in the political history of the country.