Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan has claimed that retired Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa called him a ‘playboy’ during their last meeting before the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) leader was ousted from his position.
“In a meeting with General Bajwa in August 2022, he told me that he had audios and videos of my party men. He also reminded me that I was a ‘playboy’. I told him…yes, I was (a playboy) in the past and I never claimed that I am an angel,” Khan told the media during an interaction at his Lahore residence.
The PTI leader has had a long-standing feud with Bajwa whom he considers one of the chief architects of his fall from the prime minister’s chair.
Khan added that Bajwa’s ‘set-up’ was still working in the establishment. “In Pakistan, the establishment is the name of one person.”
The cricketer-turned-politician lamented that he gave an extended rope to Bajwa who showed his true colours after receiving the extension.
“It was my great mistake to grant extension to Gen Bajwa. Bajwa started showing his ‘true colour’ after getting extension and eventually conspired against my government on the issue of accountability,” added Khan.
“I came to know that he [Bajwa] was carefully playing a double game…and make Shehbaz Sharif the prime minister. Bajwa stabbed in my back.”
While a democratic regime sits in Islamabad at all times, it is the army headquarters in Rawalpindi where the big decisions are taken and communicated to the executive.
Thus, for most Pakistani PMs, having an ally in the army chief is all the more necessary. When it was announced that General Bajwa was finally retiring after his six-year tenure in the office current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed that Khan had approached him and offered the name of three candidates who could be nominated for the post of army chief.
“Imran Khan suggested that we give him three names and he gives three names for the post of army chief and then we decide on the appointment of the new chief from those six names.”
Khan refuted the allegations and said he did not want an army chief of his choice but someone who is selected on merit.
(With inputs from agencies)
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