Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said that the “disgusting” smear campaign of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against Chief of the Army Staff General Asim Munir, at the behest of Imran Niazi, deserved the strongest condemnation. On Twitter, the prime minister said that Imran Niazi was stooping to unprecedented lows in his desperation for power and going to the extent of damaging the country and undermining its armed forces and their leadership. The campaign against the COAS was intolerable and the continuation of a conspiracy against the national institutions, according to a PM Office press release. The prime minister urged overseas Pakistanis to raise their voice against the “foreign-funded” campaign. He said as the dirty political game was being played through the expatriates, they should not become part of the conspiracy. He said Imran Khan was violating the constitution by dragging the institutions and their leadership into his “dirty” politics. The prime minister also instructed the interior minister to strictly deal with those running such a smear campaign against the institutions. He also warned of strict legal action against those fanning chaos and subversion in the country. A campaign against an army chief appointed purely on merit for the first time in the country’s history could only be an agenda of the anti-Pakistan elements, he added. “The whole nation stands by its institutions and is united against miscreants,” the prime minister remarked.