Pakistan PM rejects Imran Khan’s proposal to appoint successor to army chief Bajwa
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said that he flatly rejected a proposal from his predecessor and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, on the appointment of a successor to army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who is set to retire on November 29.
General Bajwa was initially appointed in 2016, but after three years of tenure, the then government of Khan in 2019 extended his service for another three years.
“Imran had suggested that we give him three names and he gives three names for the post of army chief and then we decide on the appointment of the new chief from those six names,” PM Shehbaz Sharif said.
“If there is a common name in both the lists, then we will agree,” he said, adding, however: “I flatly refused Imran Khan’s offer by saying thank you.”
Responding to Imra Khan’s ‘traitor’ remark on General Bajwa, Shehbaz Sharif said,”Imran Khan is currently targeting the army leadership only to fulfil his personal desires.”
When Imran Khan was in power, the opposition accused him of trying to bring an army chief of his choice who could support his alleged agenda of victimising opposition leaders. Since he lost power in April this year, the equation has changed and now Khan is saying that the coalition government wants to install an army head of its choice to protect looted wealth and steal general elections.
Last week, Khan had admitted that he offered an extension to the tenure of army chief Bajwa in March amid the opposition’s attempt to topple his government. Khan’s remarks came after Pakistan’s ISI chief Lt Gen Nadeem Najum revealed at an unprecedented press conference on Thursday that the army chief was given a “lucrative offer” for an indefinite extension of his tenure in March.
