PTI's long march aims at stopping next Pak army chief's appointment, says Maryam Nawaz

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday said that the main aim of Imran Khan's long march is to stop the government from appointing the next army chief.

She said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan is "no longer a stakeholder in Pakistani politics" and added that he will fail in his designs of division and hate, reported Geo News.

Maryam further stated that it needs a criminal-minded person to spend public money so lavishly on jalsas without having an iota of remorse.

Addressing a press conference for the first time after reaching London around a month ago, Maryam Nawaz said she was speaking to "expose" the "actual agenda" of PTI's "part-time" long march towards Islamabad and said that it had not been arranged for the sake of the nation but its purpose is to stop the incumbent government from appointing the next army chief, reported Geo News.

The PML-N vice president said that "Khan should know that the appointment of the army chief is rightfully, constitutionally, and legally the right of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. And God willing, the process will be carried out amicably in a good environment" and Imran Khan is not a stakeholder in the process.

PM Shehbaz Sharif has said that Khan contacted the government last month for discussing two matters -- one of them being the appointment of the army chief. However, the premier refused to discuss it with him, she said, reported Geo News.

The extended term of Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa will end on November 29. The coalition government has time and again stressed that his successor will be appointed in due course and in line with the Constitution.

The PML-N leader said the "part-time" long march ends within two hours after it starts, and it is stuck in Lahore despite the passage of five days. "And now, we are hearing reports that it will take eight to ten more days to reach Islamabad."

PTI's march towards Islamabad kicked off from Lahore's Liberty Chowk on October 29, 2022. This is the PTI chair's second long march this year.

Imran Khan, along with his supporters, is expected to stage a sit-in in Islamabad against Shehbaz-led coalition government after the march ends. The PTI chief expected to arrive in Islamabad on November 11.

Maryam said at this pace -- when Khan leaves for the march after breakfast and leaves for Lahore for tea in the evening -- his caravan would not reach Islamabad even after a month, reported Geo News.

She added that had the march been arranged by someone who had not been in power before, it would have made sense, but someone who ruled the country for four years need not hold such marches.

"Look at any area, be it economy, foreign relations, foreign policy, or governance, Imran Khan destroyed all of them during his tenure."

She said that the way the PTI-led government trampled upon the economy of the country, which led to skyrocketing inflation, Khan should not even be able to utter a word anymore, reported Geo News.

"Yet, he has taken out a rally on the streets of Pakistan," she said. Criticising the march further, Maryam said that personnel of the Punjab Police employed to provide security to Khan greatly outnumbered the participants of the march.

( With inputs from ANI )

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