ISLAMABAD: Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid has said that misunderstandings with the army need to be clarified while reiterating his support for Imran Khan as the country hurtles from one crisis to another.

Rashid said this while speaking to the media outside the Islamabad High Court on Friday.

During the media talk, a reporter asked Rashid about PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry’s comment that PM Shehbaz should refrain from appointing the next army chief and announce elections (by November) so the new government can appoint the army chief.

“This is a sensitive issue,” he responded. “We need to end the misunderstandings that has cropped up in our relationship with the army as they are our defenders and our pride.”

He added that he would continue to stand with Imran Khan despite the current government hounding him and his family along with PTI members.

“I have been a minister 16 times. Despite that, they have ordered three raids at my sisters’ residences,” he claimed.

He said that the Islamabad High Court has barred the government from arresting Rashid in connection with his participation in the PTI’s long march. During the hearing of the petition filed by Rashid against the registration of cases against him, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah also ordered the secretary of the Ministry of Interior to present in court the details of the cases registered against the former interior minister.

The former interior minister, known for making prophetic pronouncements regarding political happenings in the country, also took a jibe at PTI’s former ally the Balochistan Awami Party for swithcing sides ahead of the no-confidence vote that de-seated Imran as prime minister.

“The real BAP of Balochistan Awami Party would also be thinking what has happened by getting a majority with one vote in the nation,” he said. The acronym “BAP” means father in Urdu.

On the issue of the alleged conspiracy that Imran has insisted triggered the no-confidence vote, Rashid said that whoever was responsible for the cypher unwittingly helped [PTI chief] Imran Khan.

He also accused current Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah of brazen attacks on PTI workers and leaders.

“We don’t have any complaints against the police. But ‘others’ caused us a lot of grief,” he said in response to the crackdown on PTI workers on May 25 during their march to Islamabad.

“This government cannot rule for long,” Rashid added on the issue of the petrol price hike.