Fawad: Imran presented a workable formula on establishment ‘status quo’

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry has said that his leader Imran Khan presented a workable formula when he spoke about extending the tenure of current Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.

The former prime minister in a TV interview on Monday suggested that the term of current COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa be extended until after fresh elections in the country and the next COAS should be appointed by the government that returns to power after such elections, which, he also said, must be transparent.

Leaders from the ruling coalition dismissed the propsal, saying that Imran Khan had a vested interest in demanding such a thing.

PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry took to Twitter on Tuesday and said that “yesterday, Imran Khan presented a workable formula for the country’s political future and the restoration of democracy. There is a need to move forward on this formula. The economic condition of the country will not be able to bear the burden of political instability.”

“For holding [general] elections the present status quo of the establishment could be maintained,” he said.

Fawad Chaudhry is the first PTI leader to speak on Imran Khan’s proposal on the COAS appointment.

Imran Khan was removed from power by the Parliament by a no-trust vote in April. He criticized the establishment for its neutrality over the issue, saying that only animals could be neutral.

As Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif prepared to appoint the next COAS, Imran Khan created controversy around the appointment saying that the new army chief must be appointed on ‘merit’. He later said that by ‘merit’ he meant that neither Nawaz Sharif nor Asif Ali Zardari were eligible to pick the new COAS.