The Presidency said on Monday that the statement attributed to President Dr Arif Alvi about the army helping the PTI during the 2018 general election and the Senate polls was wrongly attributed to him.

According to the statement attributed to President Alvi, which is doing the rounds on social media, the president told journalists that recently-retired army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and his team helped PTI and Imran Khan in the 2018 general election and the 2021 Senate election.

This statement comes at a time when PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s has become extremely critical of the former army chief, going as far as to say that Gen Bajwa was responisble for the collapse of the PTI government. This comes even as PTI’s ally, including Punjab Chief Minsiter Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and his son Moonis Elahi, have urged Imran not to turns his gun at the army chief while referring to Gen Bajwa as their ‘benefactor’.

Controversial Comment

President Arif Alvi had a busy day in Karachi on December 25, the birth anniversary of the country’s founding father, the Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. It included a visit to the Quaid’s mausoleum and a dinner discussion in the even with businessmen and journalists. A report based on the conversation was published in the daily Jang on Monday.

According to the report, journalist Mazhar Abbas asked the President whether Imran Khan had ever thought of dismissing General Bajwa from the post of chief of army staff.

“No, I don’t think there was anything like that. It is a rumour,” was the president’s unequivocal response.

When President Alvi was asked when the relationship between Khan and General Bajwa deteriorated, the president said that he was also looking for the answer to that question.

“But probably in October last year and then in April-May this year,” he continued.

In October 2021, the appointment of Pakistan’s new spy cheif was marred by delays, with reports suggesting that Imran wanted the incumbent General Faiz Hameed to continue while the army high command wanted to replace another general to the post. Official quarters denied any rift over the appointment. The period of April-May 2022 saw the ouster of Imran Khan as prime minister following a vote of no confidence. Imran blamed his ouster on a foreign conspiracy, initially blaming his political rivals. In latest speeches and media talks, Imran has included the Establishment among those who he holds responsible for being part of the conspiracy to orchestrate his ouster.

During the conversation, however, the president said that General Bajwa and his team helped Imran Khan in the Senate election as well as the general election of 2018 that saw Imran’s PTI rise to power.

Following the rebuttal from the Presidency, journalist Mazhar Abbas tweeted that President Alvi did say “former army chief Gen (r) Bajwa helped ‘us’ in 2018 elections”, while asking the Presidency to tweet the part about the story which was out of context.

‘No more meddling’

The outgoing army chief, in one of his farewell addresses, had said that the army would no longer ‘unconstitutionally interfere’ in politics.

Following up on that, the president said that it was time for politicians to take charge if the army had decided not to interfere. “You (politicians) should create a situation where you don’t have to run to them (army).”

He expressed regret that state institutions, including the judiciary, failed to play their role as the country stumbled from crisis to the next.

In a remark aimed at General Pervez Musharraf retired, he said that the courts had allowed a dictator to change the Constitution, citing the Reko Diq mining contract, which cost Pakistan $7 billion in fines.

The president acknowledged that there was a catch-22 situation at play. “If you criticize the judiciary, it lowers the dignity of the entire judiciary. If you criticize the army, it harms the dignity of the entire institution and you do not want their dignity to be damaged.”

The principle is so stretched and applied to every situation that no one can say anything against them, he continued.

According to the news report, President Arif Alvi said that he had spoken to the new army chief regarding the “leaked audios and videos” and its impact on the country. “I am surprised this is continuing. It is ethically unacceptable.”

Retraction

The President House issued a retraction on the statement attributed to Dr Arif Alvi, saying that it was quoted out of context.

The PTI Insaaf did not immediately issue any response to the statement attributed to President Arif Alvi.

In the past, the president has retracted his statements that were not consistent with the party narrative.

In October, President Arif Alvi told Aaj News in an interview that he was not convinced that there was a conspiracy to remove Imran Khan, but it should be investigated.

However, after there was some discussion on his statement, the Presidency said that that statement was presented out of context in the interview.

Meanwhile, Senator Sherry Rehman has called the president’s statement a charge sheet against Imran Khan.

The PPP leader took to Twitter to ask Imran Khan and PTI to explain their statement.

“Today, Imran Khan is accusing the former army chief of conspiracy against the government, while his president is saying that the former army chief helped him in the Senate and general elections,” she wrote.