Khawaja Asif says no one has right to defame state institutions

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has criticised former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan over remarks against Pakistan Army, saying that no one has the right to defame state institutions, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad alongside Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, Khawaja Asif noted it was highly objectionable to politicise state institutions like the armed forces of the country.

The federal minister claimed that Imran Khan has time and again tried to use the state institutions for building his political narratives. “Imran Khan first gives a controversial statement and then retracts from it by camouflaging it with excuses of contexts,” he added.

Criticising the former premier’s claims about appointment of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) on ‘merit’, Khawaja Asif said Imran Khan was deliberately raising questions about the appointment process.

The defence minister asked whether Usman Buzdar and KP’s chief minister were appointed on merit. “Was corruption under the previous government investigated on merit?” he asked.

The minister further claimed that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had also distanced itself from Imran Khan’s statements and his close friends were offering rebuttals. “No one in the party is ready to defend him”, said Asif.

Speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said the PTI Chairman took the country to the brink of default.

He said the coalition government was struggling to revive economy, restore electricity and development projects which remained stalled during the last four years of previous government.

A day earlier, PTI Chairman Imran Khan said that the three stooges could not defeat him in a fair contest.

While addressing a public gathering in Peshawar, Imran Khan said that the three stooges were trying to create a situation to initiate a fight between the major political party and the institutions.