Appointment of new army chief
\nThreat of assassination still remains
\n ISLAMABAD
\nPrime Minister (PM) Shahbaz Sharif has made consultations with senior leadership of allied parties of government prior to appointment of new army chief and they have fully mandated PM for making appointment as per set procedure and traditions.
\nCertain ministers have proposed to PM to obtain approval from the federal cabinet in regard to appointment of army chief but the majority has not agreed with it.
\nAccording to sources PDM head Maulana Fazlur Rehman telephoned PM to inquire about his welfare and the two leaders exchanged views on prevailing situation in the country and appointment of new army chief. Sources said Maulana Fazlur Rehman threw all his weight behind PM side saying PM should appoint new army chief as per set procedure.
\nAs per sources majority have termed the appointment of army chief as administrative and discretionary powers of PM while PPP and JUI-F has left the matter entirely on PM.
\nOn the other hand PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is also in Islamabad and it is in the air that he is likely to meet Maulana Fazlur Rehman and PM Shahbaz Sharif soon. Cabinet sources said permission was never obtained from cabinet for appointment of army chief . This is prerogative of PM.
\nSome ministers are of the opinion no finger will be raised from any forum if this approval is obtained from cabinet because the approval of any important appointment is obtained from federal cabinet in the light of Supreme Court orders.
\nMeanwhile, Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday expressed the fear that those who want him dead may try again as he said that the \u2018true\u2019 attacker was still at large.
\nHe said this on Thursday in an interview to French news outlet France24. In the interview, he said that his attackers may still feel that the job is not done, which is why he is now taking precautionary measures. \u201cThey think that the only way to get me out of the way is actually [to] eliminate me. So I think that there is a threat, still,\u201d he said.
\nImran reiterated his accusation that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and a senior military official as being responsible for the November 3 Wazirabad attack because they feel threatened by him.
\nThe former prime minister added that the suspect apprehended soon after the attack in Wazirabad was just a \u2018decoy\u2019 the divert attention away from the real attacker who remains at large. He contested the official view that there was just a single attacker by maintaining that he was shot at from two separate directions pointing to the presence of two attackers.
\nImran reiterated that he only trusts an investigation helmed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court to hold transparent investigations into the attack. He argued that any other investigation, especially one involving the country\u2019s powerful intelligence agencies could be influenced or tainted by the federal government.
\nDespite the lingering threat, following which a bulletproof cubicle was erected atop his principle container, Imran vowed to rejoin his party\u2019s march in person when it reaches Rawalpindi later this month.
\nOn his recent climbdown from accusations that the US were involved in an international conspiracy with the government coalition to engineer a surprising vote of no-confidence loss that effectively ended his government, Imran said he still accuses Washington of having played a key role.
\nDespite that, Imran maintained that he did not wish to go against the interests of the people of Pakistan by antagonizing a global superpower. Stating that he has burnt his bridges and there was no going back, Imran on Thursday told his supporters who are holding rallies in various cities of Pakistan that he would announce on Saturday when he would go to Rawalpindi.
\nHe also linked Pakistan\u2019s economic survival to fresh elections and hence \u2018ouster\u2019 of a government of thieves. He said this while addressing his party\u2019s Haqeeqi Azadi Long March on Thursday afternoon via video link from his Zaman Town mansion in Lahore.
\nThe marchers, in separate convoys, reached Jhelum, Khush?b, Peshawar and Chakdara on Thursday. Imran, who has been reeling from the Toshakhana scandal where he allegedly retained state gifts for a fraction of their assessed values but then sold them at a profit, he said that country\u2019s fragile economy was demanding an election as soon possible.
\nHe said some 50 million people have been living below the poverty line in the country. He expressed the fear that if the incumbent government continues for a while longer, another 50 million will fall into poverty.
\n\u201cThe prices of dollar will go up, while essential commodities such as vegetables would become beyond the reach of common people,\u201d he said. He lamented that instead of focusing on improving the national economy, the government was trying to hide traces of their alleged corruption.
\n\u201cTheir only focus is how to save the money they made via corruption over the past 20 years,\u201d he said. \u201cThe purpose of appointment of their own army chief is also to save their corruption money, because their army chief would free them to do more corruption,\u201d he said.
\nHe further said that they have covered up Rs11billion of corruption by amending the law. \u201cThat is why they tried to eliminate the opposition by attacking the rally in Warirabad,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cI mentioned three names, who were behind the attack, but it is unfortunate that I cannot register an FIR against them as yet.\u201d He said they should not be given NRO because they will harm the country.
\nImran further said that there is only one way to save the country, which is a transparent election. \u201cPTI won 29 seats in by-election, they saw PTI\u2019s victory, that\u2019s is why they fear announcing a date for elections,\u201d he said.
\nLater, he also calls his supporters that must prepare yourself to be in Rawalpindi. \u201cI will announce the date of Rawalpindi march on Saturday, than there will be a sea of people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Appointment of new army chief Threat of assassination still remains ISLAMABAD Prime Minister (PM) Shahbaz Sharif has made consultations with senior leadership of allied parties of government prior to appointment of new army chief and they have fully mandated PM for making appointment as per set procedure and traditions. Certain ministers have proposed to PM […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[1359],"class_list":{"0":"post-295805","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-shahbaz"},"yoast_head":"\n