Imran Khan promises to take ‘No action’ against former Army Chief after coming to power

Islamabad [Pakistan], December 19 (ANI): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, on Sunday, promised that although he has a “personal” dispute with former Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa he will not take any action against him if he comes to power again, The Express Tribune reported.

While addressing the meeting of a delegation of Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, Khan said that the newly appointed Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir himself has said that he will remain neutral.

However, he added that holding elections within three months after the dissolution of assemblies will be the biggest test of his neutrality.
The former prime minister said that he explained to Bajwa about Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s involvement in Rs16 billion worth of corruption cases, according to The Express Tribune.

“I told Gen Bajwa that if we catch 10 to 12 top corrupt people, everything will get back on right track,” he added. However, he added, he later came to know that corruption was not an issue for General (retd) Bajwa.
Imran said that Pakistan’s economy would have performed even better if there wasn’t a coronavirus pandemic and China was not locked down for two years.
The economy of the country is on a decline and the income of people is low then how can loans be returned in this situation, he questioned. “A country cannot prosper if there is no rule of law,” he added.

Talking about the Toshakhana case, the PTI chief said that if there was corruption during his tenure, then the opponents would have raised it rather than highlighting the Toshakhana issue only, according to The Express Tribune.
“Toshakhana is not a museum. If I had not bought the watch it would have been bought by someone else during an auction,” he said, adding that Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari too bought expensive cars from Toshakhana.

Earlier, Imran Khan said that the “gang of corrupt” got clean chits under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) II granted to them by the former army chief, local media reported.
The former Prime Minister made the remarks in the backdrop of Salman Shehbaz’s return to the country after ending over four years of self-imposed exile in London, according to The News International.

Khan said that Gen (retd) Bajwa committed cruelty by granting an NRO-II to the “gang of corrupt” elements.
Slamming the former army chief, the PTI chief reiterated that his government was toppled under a conspiracy and thieves were imposed on the country, the report said.
“Salman Shehbaz, who was an absconder in the Maqsood Chaprasi case, has also returned and given lectures to us, while Nawaz Sharif is planning to return,” Khan said according to The News International.