‘Won’t get involved in political matters,’ army chief quoted telling Barrister Gohar

Senior journalist Ansar Abbasi has claimed that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir, during his meeting with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership, told party chairman Barrister Gohar that he won’t get involved in political issues.

According to the journalist, the army chief heard Gohar and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Ali Amin Gandapur out, but refused to be involved in political matters.

The details have emerged as Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif was briefed on the details of the “unscheduled” meeting between the PTI and Gen Munir. After discussing law-and-order meeting with different political leaders, reports quoted sources as saying, the army chief was approached by CM Gandapur for an exclusive meeting.

The premier was told that the army chief obliged them but when the PTI leaders talked about issues facing the PTI, they were told to take up political matters with the government. The COAS also told them that he would not get involved in such matters.

Last Thursday, PTI chief Gohar, after denying earlier reports, finally confirmed that he had called on the army chief along with Gandapur. He admitted to this only after PTI founder Imran Khan told media persons that the two party leaders had met Gen Munir during the latter’s recent visit to Peshawar.

Khan added that Gohar presented all matters and demands of the party directly to the army chief. Gohar, however, later said that security issues were discussed in the meeting without explaining how a security meeting between the army chief and provincial chief executive concerned him.

The PTI founder had termed direct negotiations with the establishment a positive step towards resolving the ongoing issues.

While an official confirmation of the exact agenda of the sudden meeting remains under wraps, it has been followed by the government’s refusal to accept the PTI’s primary demand for negotiations to continue.

Government's negotiation committee spokesperson Senator Irfan Siddiqui has also disapproved of the PTI’s meeting with top military leadership. “Negotiations cannot be conducted simultaneously through multiple channels,” he said.

However, the meeting itself was not the reason for the government’s refusal to accept PTI's demand for the formation of a judicial commission to probe May 9. The government has raised objections, saying that the matter was sub-judice.

A judicial commission can only be formed in cases that are not pending before a court, reports quoted government sources as saying. They added that in case of May 9, several cases pertaining to the violence were being heard by different courts, whereas some accused had also been committed by military courts.