PTI Chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that he never offered a lifetime extension to former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, calling the reports a lie.
While talking to a private news channel, Imran Khan once again slammed the former Army Chief. He said he never made the former Army Chief an offer of a lifetime extension, further adding that Gen Bajwa was the only man behind the conspiracy against him and his government.
“It is a lie that I offered a life-time extension to Qamar Javed Bajwa,” Imran Khan said. He said he met Gen Bajwa and told him that the only way to stop the country from spiraling is through elections, a narrative that Imran Khan still maintains.
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However, Gen Bajwa proposed postponing the elections due to the floods. Imran Khan also revealed that he directly questioned Gen Bajwa on whether he was hatching a conspiracy against him.
“We were already aware that Shehbaz Sharif had offered him an extension so I said to him that if he has offered you an extension, then we can also offer you one,” Imran Khan said, clarifying that the extension was till the next elections.
جب مجھے پتا چلا کہ سازش کررہے ہیں تو جنرل باجوہ سے میں نے پوچھا کہ آپ سازش تو نہیں کررہے، کیونکہ ہمیں یہ پتا چلا تھا کہ شہباز شریف نے اِنکو ایکسٹینشن آفر کردی ہے۔
چیئرمین عمران خان pic.twitter.com/eIUo0iwDc1— PTI Islamabad (@PTIOfficialISB) April 2, 2023
“I was aware of these conspiracies, but still I gave the benefit of doubt to General Bajwa. However, I later realised that he was only the man behind the conspiracy against him and his government,” Imran Khan also said.
Interestingly, Imran Khan’s statements are in stark contrast to what the DG-ISI claimed last year. In 2022, for the first time in Pakistan’s history, the head of the country’s spy agency directly addressed the media.
During the hard-hitting press conference, DG ISI Lt. Gen Nadeem made the revelation that in March, Imran Khan offered Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa to continue as the army chief for an indefinite period, which Gen Bajwa refused.
“It was made in front of me. He rejected it because he wanted the institutions to move forward from a controversial role to a constitutional role,” DG ISI said. He also said that the offer was made when the no-confidence motion was at its peak. While Lt. Gen Nadeem did not directly take Imran Khan’s name, he made the remarks based on the timeline of when Imran Khan’s government was in power.
Pertinent to mention that ever since his ouster, Imran Khan has made quite the headlines for his remarks on the former Army Chief.
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