Wednesday, President Dr. Arif Alvi expressed the hope that the newly appointed Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Syed Asim Munir, would contribute to reducing the trust gap between institutions, stating that the military leadership is determined to avoid politics.
President Alvi praised the army chief and his points of view in an interview with a private news organization. He stated that the COAS appointment was made based on merit. “The matter [appointment of army chief] has been nicely settled for the next three years.”
The president said, in reference to his meeting with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan prior to the crucial military appointment, that the former prime minister was informed that he would be consulted after the summary was received, and that the consultations were held accordingly.
But the president said he shouldn’t say anything about the army chief’s appointment because parliament has the right to do so.
In a ceremony that took place on November 29 at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa handed Gen. Munir command of the military.
‘Double-game’
President Alvi stated the following regarding Imran Khan’s remarks regarding the former chief of army staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa: Khan’s remarks on ex-COAS Gen Bajwa’s twofold game would be founded on his own insight.”
For the first time in three and a half years, the PTI chief made the following statement last week: My biggest error was giving him, Gen. Bajwa, an extension.”
“I would put my faith in anything General Bajwa said. I would inform him that we are both considering the nation; Khan had stated, “Our goal is one: to save the country.”
The former prime minister went on to say that he had no idea how he was being betrayed and lied to.
‘Dar tried to make things better’
The president said that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has the ability to find a middle ground in the ongoing debate between the PTI and the coalition government.
He stated, “Dar tried to make things better during the PTI’s sit-in in 2014,” revealing that he was informed of the economic situation during his meeting with the financial czar today.
Before, sources told Geo News that Dar had asked President Alvi for help convincing the PTI to put the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program into action.
According to the sources, the finance minister also asked the president for the PTI’s help in bringing political stability to Pakistan and putting the IMF agreement into action.
President Alvi, on the other hand, reaffirmed Dar’s assertion that Pakistan will not default. Dar received a proposal from me regarding energy efficiency. In order to save 34,000 megawatts of electricity, markets should close earlier.
Dissolution of assemblies
The president said that the PTI and the coalition government should sit down and talk about the general elections.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Vice Chairman of the PTI, stated earlier today that Imran Khan had made the decision to dissolve the assemblies of Punjab and KP within the next few days.
Qureshi made it clear that the PTI intends to establish new governments in the two provinces prior to the start of Ramadan.
According to reports, the opposition and the incumbent government have been discussing when general elections will be held because the PTI has been constantly putting pressure on the government to hold snap elections.
