• “I told him that there were cases of billions of rupees’ corruption against Aleem Khan, so how he could appoint him the CM,” he said.
• He said he never wanted to appoint army chief of his choice.
• He said it was merely propaganda against him.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday said former chief of army staff Qamar Javed Bajwa had asked him to remove the then Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar.

“Despite his being a subordinate, Bajwa had long been asking me to remove Usman Buzdar, which was a strange demand,” Imran Khan said in an interview with Bol News Anchorperson Jameel Farooqui in his programme National Debate on Bol News.

The former prime minister said Qamar Bajwa asked him to remove Usman Buzdar and appoint Aleem Khan. “I told him that there were cases of billions of rupees’ corruption against Aleem Khan, so how he could appoint him the CM,” he said.

He said they could clearly see that if their government was removed then the economy would go in tailspin, despite showing all the positive indicators, due to political instability. The current situation of economy was due to policies of the coalition government that had been ruling for over 30 years, he maintained.

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Imran Khan expedites consultations on dissolution of assemblies

Imran Khan has expedited the consultations on the issue of dissolving assemblies...

On Rana Sanaullah’s challenging Imran Khan to dissolve assemblies, the PTI supremo said Rana Sanaullah was a scoundrel and he did not take his remarks seriously. “It will not take long as we are preparing for dissolution of assemblies and the caretaker government that will come around 48 hours after that,” he said adding that the assemblies would be dissolved within December.

To a query, Imran Khan said even though Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi believed that the government should stay for few months, however he expressed that whatever Imran Khan would say he would accept it.

He denied the rumour that Parvez Elahi had demanded to re-appoint him as the CM if the PTI again came into power after dissolution of the provincial assembly.

To another query, he said initially the civil-military leadership had a good harmony specially during the coronavirus period. He said he never wanted to appoint army chief of his choice. He said it was merely propaganda against him.

However, he admitted that General (retd) Faiz Hameed had strong strategic relations in Afghanistan and central Asian countries, hence his presence was crucial after the US pull-out from Afghanistan.

To a query, Imran Khan said former prime minister Khaqan Abbasi, Khurram Dastagir, Ahsan Iqbal and Maryam had themselves admitted that no-confidence motion could never be succeeded against a PM unless the establishment backed it.

“Whoever allowed the regime change were Mir Jaffers and Mir Sadiqs as it ruined the economy,” he maintained.