Won’t let Nawaz decide selection of Pak army chief: Imran

Islamabad : Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday warned that he would not let Nawaz Sharif decide the selection of the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) and reiterated his demand that the selection should be done on merit.”The army chief should be selected on “merit” and the “thieves” should never be allowed to undertake the task,” Imran Khan said while addressing a lawyers’ convention in Lahore, reported The Nation.He also announced that the party would begin its ‘Haqeeqi Azadi’ movement on Saturday, “I will give a call and we will get our country liberated in real terms,” said Khan. Imran’s announcement comes after the incumbent government of Pakistan beefed up security arrangements in Red Zone areas of Islamabad, saying that “some people were headed towards Islamabad to have their political demands accepted”.In his address yesterday, the PTI chief again said that those “issuing threats from unknown numbers” should be threatened back — something he had first mentioned in his speech in Chakwal on Monday, reported The Nation.Earlier on Monday, while addressing a rally in Chakwal, PTI Chief said that when he says that the army chief should be selected on merit, it means Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz should not get to select the next COAS as they are the most corrupt people and do not rely on merit. “Army chief should be appointed on merit and I believe only those nations prosper which follow merit. DG ISPR, you should have got me right about [army chief appointment comments],” said Imran while referring to his controversial remarks that angered the military.