Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Saturday that the recent claims by PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi \u2014 about former army chief retired General Qamar Javed Bajwa advising his party to side with PTI during the no-confidence vote in April \u2014 had raised \u201cdoubts\u201d on the institution\u2019s decision to stay apolitical.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere should be clarity on this [matter],\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we have complete faith and the nation has complete faith that our military leadership and the institution \u2014 [will remain true] with the public commitment the DG ISPR and DG ISI made; and the institution will continue to serve the nation in that manner.\u201d<\/p>\n
The minister\u2019s remarks come days after Moonis, in an interview with journalist Meher Bokhari, said that the then-army chief had asked PML-Q to support former premier Imran Khan during the no-trust vote \u2014 which had led to the PTI\u2019s ouster.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt present, a certain section on social media has been bashing Bajwa sahib without any reason. He is the same Bajwa sahib who had bent the direction of the river\u2019s flow for the PTI,\u201d Moonis had said.<\/p>\n
He went on to say that a man \u201cwent all out for you (PTI)\u201d, adding that \u201chad he been bad, he wouldn\u2019t have asked us to back Imran\u201d.<\/p>\n
When Bokhari sought clarification on whether Gen Bajwa had asked them to support Imran, Moonis elaborated: \u201cWhen the decision was being taken on which way we have to go, we had received offers from both sides \u2014 mian sahiban [Sharif family], the PDM (Pakistan Democratic Movement), as well as the PTI.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moonis continued, \u201cI then had a discussion with walid sahib (his father, Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi) and walid sahib had a talk with them (an apparent reference to the military establishment).<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said, \u2018It is my wish that you side with them (PTI)\u2019. Had that man (Gen Bajwa) been bad, why would he have asked us to side with them at that critical juncture \u2026 Had that man been that bad and against Khan sahib and the PTI, [\u2026] he only had to give a signal at that juncture and we would have gone the other way,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
It is pertinent to mention here that the military\u2019s promise to stay apolitical came before the no-confidence vote. In March, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) DG Lt Gen Babar Iftikhar had categorically stated that the army had nothing to do with politics and called for avoiding unnecessary discussion and speculation about the army\u2019s alleged involvement in political affairs.<\/p>\n
Subsequently, the PTI had started accusing the country\u2019s incumbent rulers of colluding with the US and hatching a regime change conspiracy to topple Imran\u2019s government and blamed the military, which was led by retired Gen Bajwa at the time, for letting the current dispensation in Islamabad go ahead with the alleged conspiracy.<\/p>\n
Commenting about Moonis\u2019 statement in a media talk in Lahore today, Sanaullah lauded the PML-Q leader for his remarks but questioned that \u201cwhat was the need to say all this\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that even if this [statement] has resulted in a personal loss to Bajwa sahib [\u2026] he has gone now. He has completed his employment period now [\u2026] his benefit and loss doesn\u2019t matter now.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Sanaullah contended that the institution had adopted a stance in front of the nation that it had no relation with politics. \u201cIt said it had decided last year not to interfere in politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that Moonis\u2019 statement has raised doubts on the institution\u2019s stance,\u201d he said, adding that a clarification was required here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Saturday that the recent claims by PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi \u2014 about former army chief retired General Qamar Javed Bajwa advising his party to side with PTI during the no-confidence vote in April \u2014 had raised \u201cdoubts\u201d on the institution\u2019s decision to stay apolitical. \u201cThere should be clarity on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299011,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[11708,11709,3594,387,1446],"class_list":{"0":"post-299006","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national","8":"tag-doubts","9":"tag-institution-apolitical-stance","10":"tag-moonis-elahi","11":"tag-qamar-javed-bajwa","12":"tag-rana-sanaullah"},"yoast_head":"\n