All prior appointments in military on merit, with ‘one, two exceptions’: Khawaja Asif

Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has said that, apart from one or two instances, all former military appointments were made on the basis of merit.

On Wednesday, while doing a press conference, Khawaja Asif said that Imran Khan was deliberately raising questions regarding the appointment of the next COAS.

This is done as a part of a well-thought-out approach that starts with an assault on institutions to stir up controversy, gauging the response, and then claiming to have only discussed merit.

Khawaja Asif asked, “Did he appoint Usman Buzdar and the chief minister of KP on merit, and did he sell presents from Toshakhana based on merit?”

Was the corruption during the previous administration fairly investigated? the defence minister questioned. He continued by asking why Imran Khan petitioned the high court to halt an investigation into the Peshawar BRT.

According to Khawaja Asif, Imran Khan’s party has also distanced itself from his claims and that nobody in the party was prepared to defend him.

In a rally in Faisalabad, Imran had said that Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari would go to any extent to choose their “favorite” army chief following the retirement of the current head in November of this year.

He had stated that Zardari and Nawaz should not be trusted with the country’s future, adding that the new army leader should be picked based on merit.

Then, in an effort to explain his comments on the selection of the army commander, Imran asserted that his opponents had been “distorting” his remarks to put him on a collision with the armed forces and the courts.