Imran says not concerned about the appointment of next Army Chief

Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Wednesday he was not concerned about the appointment of the next Army Chief, Aaj News reported.

While speaking to senior journalists in Lahore, the former premier said it made no difference to him who is appointed as the next army chief as long as it meets “merit”.

“Appointment of army chief should be on merit,” he reiterated.

Imran had recently suggested that the next army chief should be appointed after fresh elections.

Talking about the diplomatic cypher, he said the master copy of the cypher was safe in the foreign office.

Imran's comments come after the government formed a sub-committee to investigate the cypher that it said was “stolen” from the records of the Prime Minister's House. The sub-committee will assist the federal cabinet's committee constituted for the probe last week.

The committee includes foreign, interior, and law ministers, and representatives of all the coalition partners of the government. It will recommend what legal action the government should take against former premier Imran, the then principal secretary to PM Azam Khan, and former ministers.

The decision was made in a meeting on Friday that was called hours after an audio clip, purportedly Imran Khan surfaced, containing his conversation with former planning minister Asad Umar, former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and then-principal secretary Azam Khan.

In the conversation, the voice, believed to be of Imran Khan, can be heard scheduling a meeting on the cypher “to play with it” and asking other participants not to mention the name of any country while talking about it. The meeting would feature Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Azam Khan, and then foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood.

In the clip, the man, believed to be Imran, can be heard telling the others that minutes would be made “as per our wishes.”

The audio tape was the second part of the leaked audio. Earlier on Wednesday, the alleged conversation between Imran and Azam Khan was also leaked. The former premier can be heard saying "let's play with the cypher and turn it into a foreign conspiracy".