PTI leaders have jumped in to offer explanations on behalf of the party chief. Shireen Mazari in a tweet responding to criticism by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif defended Imran’s statement for raising concerns over “merit” in the selection of the country’s next army chief.
“Chairman PTI’s statement was about merit & merit in selection of COAS cannot be made by two criminals whose only priority is to save their billions stashed abroad & who have zero credibility. Remember DawnLeaks & Memogate? Or the many public statements of PMLN, PPP, JUIF ag mly!” she tweeted.
“With due respect, ISRP’s statement was totally unnecessary after tweets by the PTI leadership and a clear clarification by @fawadchaudhry that Imran Khan’s reference to the COAS issue was entirely due to the corrupt leadership of the PMLN and PPP, which has a history of targeting the military from Dawn Lakes to Memogate controversy,” she further tweeted.
“Unfortunately, the statement is cause for concern because despite all the clarifications, Khan’s statement has been misconstrued and that too at a time when the PDM is deliberately distorting his statements to target him. In his speech at Faisalabad, he did not criticize the army or its leadership anywhere,” she added.