LAHORE MIRROR (Monitoring Desk)– Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan Friday said if the news of Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa contacting the United States officials for early dispersal of loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was true, “it means we [Pakistan] are getting weaker.”
The PTI chairman, in an interview with a private channel, said this was not the job of the army chief to deal with economic matters. He also questioned whether the US will demand anything in return if it decides to help Pakistan.
Earlier today, it was reported that COAS Gen Bajwa has appealed to the US to help Islamabad secure an early dispersal of $1.2 billion in funds under an IMF loan programme, Nikkei Asia reported.
اگر جنرل باجوہ امریکہ کو آئی ایم ایف سے مدد کے لیے کہہ رہے ہیں تو اسکا مطلب ہے کہ ملک کمزور ہورہا ہے کیونکہ یہ آرمی چیف کا تو کام نہیں کہ وہ فون کرے۔ اور کیا امریکہ مدد کے بدلے کوئی ڈیمانڈ نہیں کرے گا ؟ چیئرمین عمران خان #IKonARYNewsُ pic.twitter.com/lbjVGnwBUU
— PTI (@PTIofficial) July 29, 2022
The army chief reached out to the US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman over the phone earlier in the week — sources from both US and Pakistan revealed this to the publication’s correspondent Wajahat S Khan on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak publicly.
Commenting on the development, the former prime minister said that neither the Washington-based lender trusts the government nor do other countries, “I think that’s why the army chief has taken the responsibility now.”
‘These people are afraid of polls’
Reiterating his demand for early elections, Khan said that political stability can only be seen when fair and transparent elections are conducted. “Those sitting in power are afraid of the elections,” he said, recalling that when he was ousted from the office, he did nothing except for approaching the public.
“If they [coalition government] had announced early elections, today the country would have been saved from this disaster,” the PTI chairman said, citing the absence of a future roadmap by the coalition government as one of the reasons behind the economic crisis.
He went on to say that earlier, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and vice-president Maryam Nawaz demanded snap polls and now “they are afraid”.
“At this moment, the most alarming thing is the lack of trust of the market, somebody has to be held accountable for the current situation,” he asserted.
Shedding light on his relations with the opposition members, Khan said: “I don’t have any personal grudges with anybody. I had healthy relations with Nawaz and [late] Benazir Bhutto; however, my problem is corruption as they come into power and make money for themselves.”
SOURCE: GEO NEWS
