By Our Staff reporter
Retired with grace and honor, General ® Qamar Javed Bajwa, the country’s former Chief of Army Staff, had rescued Imran Khan’s government on many occasions.
While Imran Khan, the country’s former Prime Minister, continues to accuse General Qamar Javed Bajwa for his ouster from Prime Minister’s Office, Khan’s main coalition partner has revealed it was former army chief Mr. Bajwa who had lobbied for Khan to save his governments in Federation as well as in Punjab.
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Days after his son Moonis Elahi made a similar statement, Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi disclosed on Sunday that former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa had nudged the PML-Q to support the PTI and former prime minister Imran Khan.
Chaudhary Pervez Elahi, Chief Minister of Punjab dropped a bombshell in an interview with Bol News program Tajzia saying he had received offers from both the PTI camp and the then-opposition for the PML-Q’s support. The chief minister said that his son Moonis Elahi had also expressed a desire to side with the PTI.
“God changed our path in the last moments and sent Bajwa sahab to show us the way. When I expressed my concerns about the Sharifs and that I don’t trust them then Bajwa sahab said, ‘You should proceed carefully and the path going towards Imran is better for you and your friends,’” CM Elahi said without specifying if his interaction with the former COAS occurred prior to the no confidence move against Imran or at the time of the Punjab chief minister elections.
Last week Moonis had claimed during Hum News program Hum Meher Bokhari Kay Sath on Thursday night that Gen Bajwa advised his party to support the PTI in a weeks-long tussle that ended with Imran’s ouster as the prime minister through a no-confidence vote in April.
“At present, a certain section on social media has been bashing Bajwa sahib without any reason. He is the same Bajwa sahib who had bent the direction of the river’s flow for the PTI,” Dawn quoted Moonis as telling Hum News adding that he had had a disagreement on this with the PTI and anyone else speaking against the retired army chief.
He went on to say that a man “went all out for you (PTI)”, but now that he had retired, “he has become bad”.
“Had he been bad, he wouldn’t have asked us to back Imran.”
When Bokhari sought clarification on whether Gen Bajwa had asked them to support Imran, Moonis had elaborated: “When the decision was being taken on which way we have to go, we had received offers from both sides — mian sahiban [Sharif family], the PDM (Pakistan Democratic Movement), as well as the PTI.
Interestingly, Imran Khan had said last week that he had committed a “big mistake” by granting Gen Bajwa an extension and also accused the former army chief of engaging in “double games”, double speak, mixed messages, and more, alleging that Gen Bajwa denied everything when asked about the establishment’s contact with the then-opposition.
Answering a question about Moonis’s claim, Imran explained: “Moonis was asked to support Imran Khan, while the other one [Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain] had been asked to go to PML-N. Gen Bajwa was playing a double game and I could later identify that even PTI’s different men were being given different messages.”
Answering a question about Moonis’s claim, Imran explained: “Moonis was asked to support Imran Khan, while the other one [Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain] had been asked to go to PML-N. Gen Bajwa was playing a double game and I could later identify that even PTI’s different men were being given different messages. Following Khan’s remarks about the former army chief, the government of Sharif reacted sharply.
PML-N stalwart and Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said during a press conference in Lahore: “He (Imran) is a person who says every day that he did a mistake. ‘Going to Russia was my mistake, the army chief’s extension was my mistake’.