LAHORE - Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has said that he has a “personal” dispute with former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa but he will not take any action against him if he comes into power again.
While talking to a delegation of Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) at his Zaman Park residence here, yesterday, Imran said that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Asim Munir himself has said that he would remain neutral. However, he added that holding elections within three months after the dissolution of assemblies will be the biggest test of his neutrality.
“The announcement of dissolving Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab assemblies have exposed many people,” he said, without naming anyone. He noted that the dissolution of assemblies would force elections in 66 per cent of Pakistan.
The PTI chief further said that it would be a gross violation of Constitution if elections are not held in the stipulated period. He claimed that when Lt-Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed was removed as Director General ISI, it had become obvious that a plan has been hatched to topple the PTI government.
“I told Gen Bajwa that if the plan to topple the government succeeds, no one will be able to manage the country’s economy,” he added. The PTI chairman also said that he had explained to the former army chief how Shehbaz Sharif could be considered for the prime minister’s post as he was named in the Rs16 billion corruption cases. However, he added, he later came to know that corruption was not an issue for Gen (retd) Bajwa. “Gen Bajwa used to say that Aleem Khan should be made the [Punjab] chief minister. I found out about his illegal possession so I said how he could be made chief minister,” he said. Imran said that Pakistan’s economy would have performed even better if there wasn’t a coronavirus pandemic and China was not locked down for two years. Economy of the country is on a decline and income of people is low, then how can loans be returned in this situation, he questioned. “A country cannot prosper if there is no rule of law,” he added. “I told Gen Bajwa that if we catch 10 to 12 top corrupt people, everything will get back on right track.” Imran said that National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was formed in 1999 but it should be questioned whether corruption increased or decreased since then.