GUJRAT: PTI Chai­r­man Imran Khan on Satur­day claimed that he did not make the appointment of the new army chief “controversial” as he only propagated ‘merit’ for such high-level postings.

“There are one or two allegations against me for making the appointment controversial. I have never made this matter controversial. I have only said that whoever is on merit should be made the next army chief,” the former prime minister said during his address to the PTI long march in Lala Musa via video link.

“I don’t want my own army chief,” he said, adding that he did not want to appoint judges, police chief, and NAB chief for his own benefit either.

Lately, the PTI chief has been distancing himself from the ‘controversy’ surrounding the army chief’s appointment. Earlier, he had repeatedly called for consultation on the appointment of the new chief and also floated the idea of an extension to the incumbent chief, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.

In a comment on PM Sharif’s trip to London to consult PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif over the army chief’s appointment, Mr Khan said it was unimaginable that “important decisions are taken abroad by those who have plundered the state wealth for the past 30 years”.

He further claimed that PM Sharif was in trouble over a lawsuit he filed against the British tabloid Mail On Sunday in London. “It will be the biggest challenge for Shehbaz Sharif now that he will have to explain the [serious] allegations that he has levelled against the newspaper in the court,” the PTI chief said.

The PTI long march, currently near Lala Musa, will reach Kharian on Sunday.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2022