Army Chief General Asim Munir visited the Quetta Garrison and addressed the Command and Staff College, an ISPR statement said on Monday.

Those who are making futile efforts to drive a wedge and weaken the unbreakable bond between the people of Pakistan and its Armed Forces will never be able to succeed Insha Allah,“ General Munir said.

He also said that “the nexus between internal collusive elements and external forces to create instability has amply been exposed to the people of Pakistan.”

He added that the army had the support of the Pakistani people and could not be ‘deterred or coerced’ by anyone.

Referring to the rallies being taken out across Pakistan in support of the army, he also said that the people’s ‘recent manifestation of their unique love’ had given a befitting reply to the enemy of the country.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday that Imran Khan ‘convneniently’ forgets his role in bringing Pakistan into an economic crisis

“From scrapping the IMF deal, he has always wished Pakistan to default,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Yes, we do face the economic challenges but the doomsday scenario is past us,” he said.

“Sincere efforts are being made to address the challenges through economic belt-tightening and timely policy interventions.”

His response comes after Imran Khan severly criticised the government for pushing Pakistan towards default.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan said that hoping that the army would have nothing to do with ruling the country was akin to ‘living in a fool’s paradise’.

In an interview with BBC Urdu, Imran Khan said that the army has been involved in ruling Pakistan directly or indirectly for the past 70 years.

He also said that he would appoint younger people in the place of those who had defected from the party as it would help a new leadership in the party.

Imran also said in the interview that his position would weaken when he lost his vote bank.

Reports emerged on Monday that former PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry could join the Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam soon.

The reports emerged after Fawad met Chaudhry Sarwar, the former governor of Punjab who is now the PML-Q’s chief organiser. The two discussed political matters.

Fawad has already spoken to Jahangir Tareen on the phone.

The former information minister had said he would take a ‘break’ from politics after condemning the events of May 9. He has removed Imran Khan’s photograph from his Twitter account but still carries ‘Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’ in his bio.

PTI chairman Imran Khan said on Monday that the ‘fascist’ government was trying to crush his party while the economy was in freefall.

Imran said that there was a gap of Rs30 between the dollar’s official and market rate, and the ‘dollarisation’ of the economy could lead to hyperinflation.

“The question is, how on earth is the Pakistani establishment allowing the country to head towards a complete economic meltdown?”

https://www.aajenglish.tv/live/politics-may-29-2023

Women taken into custody after violent protests in the country on May 9 were being treated in accordance with the law, Punjab Interim Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has claimed.

“Police are ensuring that female officials are present if women were being taken into custody,” he told reporters in Lahore.

His comments came after the PTI chief claimed that the government was trying to cover up and preempt the horror stories about to break in the media.

Naqvi said that the PTI was doing “propaganda”, adding that all those involved in the attack on the Lahore Corps Commander House would be held accountable.

“Mothers and sisters are respected, think before making such accusations,” he said, “in the incidents of May 9, 11 women – out of the 32 arrested – are in jail on judicial remand. These women are accompanied by ladies’ staff in the jail, such an incident has never happened in the history of the jail, cameras are also installed in the jail, monitoring. There are also teams, it is our responsibility to provide protection to mothers and sisters.”

Those who attacked the Jinnah House would be arrested at all costs, no matter how influential the attacker was, Naqvi said. He added that the government has so far not taken any decision regarding the detention of Imran Khan.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that negotiations with the PTI could not be held until the former ruling party takes ‘corrective actions’ over the events of May 9.

“Negotiations with Khan could be held if he takes ‘corrective actions’, apologises to the nation, admits his mistake, and promises not to do anything like May 9 in the future,” he said in an interview with Geo News on Sunday.

He was responding to a query on the people responsible for the May 9 events. The PTI chief has appealed for talks to resolve the crisis, however, with a statement that such an offer should “not be considered his weakness”.

But a couple of leaders in the ruling alliance have rejected Khan’s offer for talks.

Dar added that there was complete planning and instructions from the senior leadership before the May 9 events. He supported his claims with the “available evidence”. The finance czar advised the PTI leader to go through the accountability process to prove themselves.

He blamed the PTI for not fulfilling the last agreements singed when the PTI staged the 2014 sit-in.

When asked about talks offered by the PTI chief, Dar said: “We had negotiations with a clear good intention. We had five rounds in three days and 75% agenda was achieved by both sides on the last day. We convinced them that separate elections cannot be held and they agreed.”

Both sides also agreed on the fact that free and fair elections cannot be held under any political government, he claimed, adding that they also agreed on simultaneous elections.

The last point was the date of elections and the PTI was stuck on May 14 date, set by the Supreme Court. But the government team did not accept and told them their tenure ends on August 12 and the election would be held in September or October.

Dar said the government offered a “mid-point” having elections on September 30 or October 1. The PTI replied that they would discuss it with their leadership.

“To my great surprise, they [PTI] gave mixed signals, and the events of May 9 completely changed the situation now amidst this situation how you can have negotiations until they apologise to the nation and condemn attacks on military installations and other damages,” he said.