Pak army dismisses information minister’s claim; says it has nothing to do with politics

Islamabad, Mar 10 (PTI) Pakistan’s powerful army on Thursday distanced itself from the brewing political situation in the country in the wake of a no-trust motion by the Opposition parties against Prime Minister Imran Khan, saying it has nothing to do with the politics.

“It is better for all of us to avoid unnecessary speculation on this matter (army’s role in current situation),” Military spokesperson Major General Babar Iftikhar told reporters.

Reiterating that the army has nothing to do with the politics, Maj Gen Iftikhar urged the media and people not to speculate about it.

He said this had been the stance of the Pakistan Army and it “will continue to be its stance”.

His remarks came hours after Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday rejected the notion that the country’s powerful army was supporting the opposition and claimed that the armed forces continued to stand with the government of Prime Minister Khan.

Chaudhry made the remarks while addressing the media, days after the Opposition parties submitted a no-trust move in the National Assembly to dislodge Khan. He was asked about the prevailing impression that Opposition parties now had the “army or establishment’s support” as they pressed ahead to remove Khan.

“In our constitutional scheme, the army has to stay with the government…The army has to follow the Constitution, and it will follow the Constitution,” he responded.

The powerful army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 73 plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in the matters of security and foreign policy.

Khan, 69, is heading a coalition government and he can be removed if some of the partners decide to switch sides, which is not unusual in parliamentary democracies.

Chaudhry also talked about the political committee meeting of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday where the issue of alleged “campaign against the Pakistan Army” by opposition leaders was also discussed.

He said the past record of opposition leaders showed that they had been trying for political control over the army instead of reforming the system.

“We also think about reforms for our institutions. The jurisdictions of all institutions have been defined in the Constitution and we want to move towards that so that such complaints or questions never arise in the country again,” he said.

He termed the no-trust move as a “political drama” and asserted that the government wanted to draw the curtain on it before March 23, when Pakistan was scheduled to host the foreign ministers of Muslim countries.

“So we want this political drama to end before that,” he said, but refused to give a date for voting.

The Speaker of the National Assembly would decide about it, he said.

Chaudhry also said that the move by the opposition would fail and Khan would emerge as stronger.

Separately, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said that those PTI lawmakers who will cross the floor to vote against the premier will be disqualified by the speaker who has constitutional powers to disqualify lawmakers over possible defection.

His statement came after several members of the ruling party gravitated towards a powerful industrialist Jehangir Khan Tarin who was once a cohort of Khan but turned against him some time ago when he was implicated in a sugar shortage scam.

Tarin and his group hold the key and it would be difficult for Khan to survive the no-confidence motion if the estranged lawmakers decided to go with the opposition. However, the government is trying to win them back and at the same time threatening them with disqualification.

PTI SH ZH ZH