Lahore: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said that he has “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.

He made these remarks during meeting with delegation of Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) at his Zaman Park residence here. Imran said that Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir himself has said that he will remain neutral. However, he added that holding elections within three months after dissolution of assemblies will biggest test of his neutrality. He said that when Lt-Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed was removed as DG ISI, it became obvious that plan has been hatched to topple PTI government.

“I told Gen Bajwa that if plan to topple government succeeds, no one will be able to manage country’s economy,” he added. Imran said that he explained to former Army Chief how Shehbaz could be considered for prime minister’s post as he was named in Rs 16 billion worth of corruption cases. However, he added, he later came to know that corruption was not an issue for General (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 can be made Chief Minister,” he said. Imran said that Pakistan’s economy would have performed even better if there wasn’t coronavirus pandemic and China was not locked down for two years.

Economy of country is on 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 was formed in 1999 but it should be questioned whether corruption increased or decreased since then. “We had decent relation with Gen Bajwa but I don’t know what happened later.”

Published in The Daily National Courier, December, 19 2022

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