Bureau Report
PESHAWAR: President Dr Arif Alvi distanced himself on Monday from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chief and deposed prime minister Imran Khan’s remarks concerning the army chief and said that he should “clarify the comments himself”.
Speaking to journalists at the Governor House in Peshawar the president said that he “did not want to cause any confusion” as he urged Imran to offer an explanation for his statements.
Addressing a public rally at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad Sunday, the former prime minister alleged that Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari wanted to appoint the army chief of their choice because if a “strong and patriotic army chief” came, they would be questioned about their loot.
Elaborating on his stance, President Alvi said “the entire military is patriotic including the army chief whose loyalty is beyond doubt”. At the same time, he said that “the one who makes the comments should be the one to explain himself”.
“I am not working towards building a national government, rather I hope to bring everyone to the same table,” he continued. “I meet the prime minister regularly. If we are not in communication then there is no distance either,” he added.
“If we achieve transparency then the mistrust between the provinces will also end,” he added.
The president also reiterated the coalition government’s stance that the country had managed to “escape economic pressures” and the deal with the international money lender – the IMF was “better”. He also remained optimistic that “the other institutions will cooperate now” and hoped “inflation will end soon”.
President Alvi further stated that the, “Social media is an animal that shouldn’t be given too much importance,” but he nonetheless maintaned that it “cannot be regulated” and “we must learn to live with it”. However, “whoever speaks,” he said, “should speak carefully”.
In an apparent nod to the audio leak that stirred controversy over the PTI’s alleged attempts to employ ‘hardball tactics’ to thrust the crucial loan into “jeopardy”, the president said “tapping people’s phones is dangerous” but dismissed it as something that “happens all over the world”.
