Wednesday, 14 September, 2022 I 17 Safar, 1444 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XIII No 76 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
Asif hints At chAnge of guArd in PunjAb g
REJECTS PTI CHIEF’S PROPOSAL TO ExTENd COAS TENURE
LAHORE
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staff report
HE government of the Pakistan democratic Movement (PdM) coalition believes a change of government in Punjab will stable the nation’s political landscape, Minister for defence
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SAyS IMRAN dELIBERATELy MAKING ARMy CHIEF’S APPOINTMENT CONTROVERSIAL
Khawaja Muhammad Asif said, confirming speculation about the central government flexing muscles for a change of guard in the province. “yes, we always have the option of [change of] Punjab government and we will act when we deem it feasible,” Asif told dawn News during an interview. Even by the standards of Pakistan’s perpet-
ually unstable politics, the last months in the country have been exceptionally turbulent. While the country has secured a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to disburse a tranche of about $1.2 billion, political unrest, including massive protests led by the former prime minister Imran Khan, could jeopardise that lifeline. But Asif suggested that a change in Punjab, which is being governed by a coalition of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, would bring upheaval to existing uncertainty. “We are working on it politically and the change will certainly bring an end to this uncertainty,” he told the station, without elaborating on the means to achieve the feat since his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party and its partners in the ruling PdM coalition are well short of the magic number required to dethrone Elahi, chief minister of Punjab. In saying so, he confirmed fears expressed by Khan who has claimed that a conspiracy is being hatched to topple his government in Punjab, alleging that the ministers in the province in the province were being threatened to accept bribes being offered by mysterious “Mr x” and “Mr y”, pointing apparently to the military establishment.
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PM to attend SCO security bloc summit ISLAMABAD staff report
The prime minister will attend a summit of the regional security bloc Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) later this week, the Foreign Office said in a statement on Tuesday. Shehbaz Sharif will attend the meeting of the Council of Heads of State (CHS) of the bloc on the invitation of Shavkat Mirziyoyev, president of Uzbekistan who would chair the meeting.
The statement said Sharif will also hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit during a two-day visit to Uzbekistan, which is hosting the event, from September 15. “The CHS is the highest forum of the SCO, which considers and defines the strategy, prospects and priorities of the organisation. At the forthcoming CHS, the SCO leaders will deliberate on important global and regional issues, including climate change, food security energy security, and sus-
tainable supply chains,” the Foreign Office said. “They would also approve agreements and documents that
would chart the future direction of cooperation among SCO member states.”
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Minister says ‘power hungry’ Imran unable to understand scale of floods devastation ISLAMABAD staff report
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Tuesday criticised Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), and said the former prime minister could not see the country submerged in floods as he only wanted to see himself back in power. In a statement, the minister declared that Khan’s problem was his “ego, arrogance, self-righteousness, lust for power and corruption”. She said Khan should first decide what was his real problem — foreign conspiracy, real freedom, the chief election commissioner or NRO for corruption? The minister alleged that the PTI leadership did not want freedom, but an NRO for what she called their “real corruption”. There was no foreign conspiracy, but they want NRO for their “real conspiracy of foreign funding”, she maintained. Aurangzeb said Khan’s aim was not an election but closure of corruption cases against him. Khan was asking for NRO by threatening and using abusive language, she said adding that the PTI chief was also seeking NRO for Farah Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi. She said the CEC had committed no sin, he only announced the verdict in the foreign funding case, which had been pending for eight long years. The minister opined that Khan was asking the CEC for NRO in the case. Lashing out at Khan’s duplicity, she said that on the one hand he had adopted anti-American rhetoric and on the other hand he rented the services of a US-based firm for lobbying in his favour in the US and he held secret meetings with host leadership.
Proposal to defer new army chief’s appointment subject to snap polls: Imran ISLAMABAD staff report
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday clarified that he did not talk about Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s extension but urged to maintain merit and defer the appointment of the army chief until fresh elections. Imran Khan clarified his previous statement related to the new army chief’s appointment that he delivered during an interview with a private news channel yesterday. While talking to journalists at his Banigala residence a day after he indirectly hinted at granting another extension to the incumbent COAS, Khan said, “I have always talked about merit. I had said that the army chief’s appointment should be made on merit but Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari are not eligible to approve the important appointment.” “I have suggested that the position of the army chief is very important. The
appointment has to be done on merit. I will repeat time and again that it should be done on merit,” Imran has said during an interview with private TV channel while building his case for the new army chief’s appointment after the elections. He had said neither Asif Ali Zardari nor Nawaz Sharif fulfilled the criteria of merit to appoint the new army chief, adding they both lacked the moral ground to be part of such an important decision-making process. “One is an absconder and convicted; his wealth is stashed abroad; he is imposed on us through a foreign conspiracy,” he had said. In today’s conversation with journalists, Imran said that his proposal for the extension of the army chief’s tenure is “subject to the announcement of the early elections”. “The appointment of the army chief should be delayed until the election of a new government,” he added. Speaking on the occasion, the PTI chief said that ‘a few individuals have put the national security at stake for their
own vested interests. “It is also possible that I will reveal the names of all those people,” he warned. Imran said he had always talked about for the betterment of the country. “I am standing with the institutions that are standing with the national interests”. He reiterated that no organisation can excel without merit and added that “the institution of army is strong because it follows merit”. On his much-hyped strategy to force the incumbent government to call early elections, Imran said he will give final call to the nation in this regard no later than September. “They [government] are baffled by my in-swinging yorker,” he said while using a cricket analogy. Imran said he was not in favour of delaying the early elections till March next year. “Whoever goes against the interest of Pakistan, I will stand against him. This ‘lame government’ is nothing without the establishment. I don’t want anyone to harm the country under the guise of the establishment,” he added.
He also called upon the judiciary to create a merit-based mechanism for the appointment of judges. Speaking about his controversial remarks involving military top brass, Imran said he did not understand why InterServices Public Relations (ISPR) issued a statement as he only said that “army
chief should be appointed on merit”. The PTI ‘s chief statement had triggered a strong reaction from the army when he recently accused both the Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz of seeking the appointment of an army chief of their choice in a bid to save their skin from corruption cases.