Federal Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan was deliberately trying to make the army chief’s appointment controversial, adding that in his lust for power the PTI chief was using the appointment of the new army chief.

“It’s the constitutional and legal authority of the government to appoint the army chief,” the minister said speaking in an exclusive interview on the Aaj News programme Faisla Aap Ka with host Asma Shirazi on Monday.

Earlier this week, PTI chairperson Imran Khan, during an interview with a private TV channel, conveyed a strong impression that the current army chief should be given an extension until the new government is elected.

Later clarifying his statement the PTI chief said that he had not talked about the extension of the tenure of the army chief and clarified that the appointment of the new army chief should be postponed until the election of a new government.

Khawaja Asif said that the process of considering the extension of the tenure of the army chief had not started. “It is only Imran Khan who is talking about the extension of the army chief’s tenure,” the defence minister added.

The minister said that the process of considering the appointment of a new army chief had not even started, adding that the process may start by the end of September or in November.

He said that the government would use its constitutional right and that the current government will reach a decision regarding the appointment at the right time while keeping in view the traditions set by the constitution and the institution.

He said that the PTI chief in his lust for power was now using the army chief’s appointment.

There are still two and a half months left before the appointment of the Army Chief, he noted.

Responding to a question regarding PTI’s government in Punjab, the defence minister said that a no-confidence motion may be tabled in the Punjab assembly, adding that the Punjab government could collapse at any time.