Fact Check: Did the Army Chief say ‘No political party is sincere with Pakistan?’

On Sept 4, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir pledged unwavering efforts to attract foreign investment and rejuvenate the economy during an extensive meeting with members of the business community. In the meeting, he engaged openly and candidly with them.

The controversy started when a renowned businessman Zubair Motiwala appeared in Nadeem Malik’s program on Samaa TV and said during the live show that the Army Chief said that no political party is sincere with Pakistan. Motiwala was unable to complete his statement as his line was disconnected. A clip of his statement went viral online soon after.

زبير موتی والا آرمی چيپ 🤣سے گفتگو کھل کر سامنے آگے انتخابی نشان بھی بتا دوں اب😇 pic.twitter.com/CsQXgm3rDU

— AfshaYusufzai (@AfshanYusufzai) September 4, 2023

Today, senior journalist and anchorperson Saleem Safi took to X (formerly Twitter) and said that his sources have revealed that the Army Chief did not said anything like this. He stated that the Chief’s actual words were, “Every political party has good and bad people.”

The Current reached out to Safi to get a confirmation about his tweet. He said that he confirmed with three people who were present at the meeting that the statement was not said. He said that ISPR also confirmed that the statement was not said by the Army Chief. He also predicted that Motiwala would clarify his statement himself in a few hours.

معتبر ذرائع کےمطابق آرمی چیف نےایسی کوئی بات نہیں کی۔یہ غلط طور پران سےمنسوب کی گئی ہے ۔انکےاصل الفاظ یہ تھے کہ "ہر سیاسی جماعت میں اچھے لوگ بھی ہیں اور برےلوگ بھی ہیں" ،جس طرٍح کاروباری طبقے میں اچھےلوگ بھی ہیں اور برےلوگ بھی ہیں۔موتی والاکوسمجھنےمیں غلطی لگی ہےیا بیان کرنےمیں۔ https://t.co/NWA6cnCgJn

— Saleem Safi (@SaleemKhanSafi) September 5, 2023