Bizenjo slams Imran statement on appointment of next army chief

It is wrong to involve the military leadership in politics, said Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo while blasting PTI Chairman Imran Khan's remarks on the appointment of the next army chief.

Taking to Twitter, the chief minister stated that the Pakistan Army guarantees the country's security and safety.

"The effort to politicise the legally mandated mechanism for appointing the topmost commander of the Pakistan Army is not in the best interests of the country," Bizenjo stated on social media on September 5.

"We cannot allow the country's security to be put at stake in pursuit of political objectives," he added.

Imran Khan's remarks on appointment of new army chief

On September 4, the PTI chairman said the coalition government wanted to "appoint an army chief of their own choice" therefore it was stalling the elections.

The PTI chairman said that PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and former premier Nawaz Sharif "feared" a strong and patriotic army chief, who could hold them accountable for the looted money they had stashed abroad.

The former prime minister said a new army chief was going to be appointed in November this year. They [Zaradri and Nawaz] wanted to appoint a favourite [general] as the next army chief, he said.

Both have committed corruption worth billions, and they wanted to appoint an army chief who could protect them and their corruption, Imran Khan alleged.

The PTI chair alleged that PM Shehbaz, his brother Nawaz, and Zardari had been laundering public money. The two families had been looting the national exchequer for the last 30 years, he said.

Pakistan Army slams Imran Khan's statement

The Pakistani Army expressed displeasure over Imran Khan's statement against the military and said it was "aghast" over it.

In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the army was "aghast" at the defamatory and uncalled-for statements about the military's senior leadership made by the PTI chairman during a Faisalabad rally.

The military's media wing said that regrettably, an attempt was made to discredit and undermine the senior leadership of the army at a time when the institution was laying lives for the "security and safety of the people every day".

The army said that senior politicians trying to stir controversies over the appointment of the COAS, the procedure for which is well-defined in the Constitution, is "most unfortunate and disappointing".