PAKISTAN: ARMY CHIEF

Headline

Outgoing Pakistani army chief says Military has decided to stay out of the country’s politics in the future . 

Intro

Pakistan army chief says military to quit political role; slams ousted PM Imran Khan over alleged US conspiracy.

Story

STORY: Pakistan’s army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa,  on Thursday  (November 23) condemned the recent anti-military narrative in the country , and urged all political parties to stop using labels of ‘imported’ and ‘selected’ against each other, and instead, work towards the betterment of the country.
Bajwa, addressing the Defence and Martyrs day ceremony in GHQ, said it was his final public address as the army chief.

He said in February last year the army had decided that from now onwards it would never interfere in any political matter.
“In the future, the military will not interfere in any political affairs. I assure you that we are adhering to this very strictly. And will remain so in the future,” he said.
“ However, instead of welcoming this gesture, some circles have been criticizing  the armed forces, and using very inappropriate and immoral language against the army. It is the right of the public and the (political) parties to criticize the armed forces, but they should be careful with the words they use,” he added.

Bajwa rejected claims by ousted prime minister Imran Khan that a U.S.-backed conspiracy had toppled his government.
“A state of hysteria was created in the country on the pretext of a fake and false narrative, and now they are backing out of that narrative. Senior military leadership were given inappropriate and undignified names,” Bajwa said, adding:

“ I want to make it clear that the military leadership may do anything , but it can never do anything that is not in the interest of the country. Do you think that the armed forces would sit idly by if there were an external conspiracy in the country? This is impossible .”

The outgoing Amy Chief said the country was facing “serious economic” issues and no single party could take the country out of the financial crisis.
“ I can categorically say that Pakistan is the victim of severe economic instability these days. No single party can take Pakistan out of this economic quagmire alone. For this political stability is mandatory and the time has come for all political stakeholders to set aside their ego, learn from past mistakes, move forward and take Pakistan out of this crisis,” he said.

Bajwa is due to retire on Nov. 29, and a process for his replacement began a day earlier after the military sent a list of the six most senior lieutenant generals to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif from which to choose a new Chief.

The Martyrs day ceremony is held annually at the General Headquarters (GHQ) Rawalpindi on September 6 to commemorate the sacrifices of fallen heroes of the 1965 war. However, it was postponed this year in solidarity with flood victims across the country and rescheduled for November 23.