President Arif Alvi said Thursday that he had called for ‘broader consultation’ on the appointment of the chief of army staff (COAS), adding that proposing such consultation was not unconstitutional.

“Constitutional procedures should be followed in the appointment of the next chief of the army staff,” President Alvi said speaking on Aaj News programme Rubaroo with host Shaukat Piracha.

He said that proposing consultation over the issue of the important appointment was not unconstitutional, adding that the federal ministers also held a consultation with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif in London regarding the appointment of the army chief. “I want that there should be a wider consultation,” he maintained.

He said that in the past, too, the opposition was consulted on the appointment of the army chief, adding that important appointments should be made on merit.

Responding to a question regarding facilitating a meeting between ex-premier Imran Khan and army chief Gen Qamar Javed, President Alvi said that he was making efforts to “consult, negotiate and deliberate” in personal capacity to bring the “stakeholders closer” to one another.

Responding to a question regarding the next general elections, the president said that the assembly would automatically be dissolved on August 11, 2023, and the next general elections would be held within the next sixty days after the dissolution of the assembly.

“I feel that to get the nation out of the state of agitation, it is necessary that politicians sit together and find the solution to the issues through mutual consultations,” he suggested.

The president said that if Imran Khan did not want to sit with the government and the PML-N supremo could not join the consultation physically as he was abroad, the dialogue could be started among the lower-tier leadership of the political parties to remove misunderstandings and bring unity among the public.

The President further said that he was trying to resolve the issues through negotiations. “I hope that the issues will reach an understanding,” he added.

Commenting on PTI’s forthcoming long march on Islamabad the president said that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leaders should evaluate that what were the desires of PTI Chairperson Imran Khan.

“It is now up to them [coalition government] to either make decisions to promote instability or bring stability to the country’s economy,” the president said and added that staging a peaceful protest was the constitutional right of PTI.

“The promises made to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be fulfilled only if the country will be politically stable.”