After Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, Federal Minister for Communications Murad Seed has also confirmed that parliamentary leaders had met the military leadership and discussed matters related to the country, to which the army had stressed that it should be kept away from political parties’ matters.

“They target institutions and then ask for time for meetings,” Saeed said, referring to opposition leaders. He had said that the clear message from the military leadership was to “not involve the military in politics”.

According to reports, the military had conveyed clearly that the army was “not involved, directly or indirectly, in any political process of the country”.

RELATED STORIES

“If the need arises, the army will stand with the civilian government,” a senior military official had told parliamentary leaders in the meeting.

The meeting was attended by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director-General Lt Gen Faiz Hameed. Gilgit-Baltistan’s (GB) administrative affairs were also on the meeting’s agenda.

The military leadership had told the civilians that the army was not involved in either electoral reforms or problems related to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and other political matters. It had also told them that it was the responsibility of the political leadership to work out such matters between themselves.