• Ex-PM says former army chief used him as ‘punching bag’; blames him for prevailing crises
• PTI chief says ‘conspiracy’ which removed him from power ‘exported’ from Pakistan to US
• Alleges Sharifs, Zardari want him disqualified
LAHORE: After months of allegations, former prime minister Imran Khan has given a clean chit to the United States and instead held former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa responsible for the ‘conspiracy’ which resulted in his ouster via a no-confidence motion in April last year.
The PTI chairman made these remarks during an interview with the Voice of America English aired on Saturday and a separate televised address on Sunday. On both occasions, the former premier took swipes at the ex-chief of army staff, who, according to Imran Khan, was the source of all the crises plaguing Pakistan today.
“Whatever happened, now as things unfold, it wasn’t the US who told Pakistan [to oust me]. It was unfortunately, from what evidence has come up, [former army chief] Gen [Qamar Javed] Bajwa who somehow managed to tell the Americans that I was anti-American. And so, it [the plan to oust me] wasn’t imported from there. It was exported from here to there,” Mr Khan told VoA in a sharp U-turn from his previous position of blaming the US.
In the televised address, Imran Khan termed Gen Bajwa, who retired in November last year, ‘super king’ and admitted that his three-and-a-half-year stint in the Prime Minister’s Office was more like of a puppet.
“Gen Bajwa had become an expert of everything, including economy, politics, and foreign policy,” Mr Khan alleged.
“Gen Bajwa used to get the credit for good decisions and Imran Khan used to serve as a punching bag for every wrong decision,” Mr Khan claimed, alleging that the former army chief was responsible for the “political and economic ills” faced by the country today.
Imran Khan also slammed the former chief for hampering the process of accountability. The PTI chairman claimed Mr Bajwa had decided that there would be no accountability of Shehbaz Sharif as he had already taken a decision to elevate him as the prime minister. “No accountability was held thereafter,” he said and claimed that the former army chief had also acknowledged this in an interview with a columnist.
“If Bajwa could be criticised or [held] accountable for his actions, he would not have been able to damage the country to such an extent,” he added.
