Former chief Bajwa denies Pak army role in no-trust vote against Imran Khan: Report

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Bajwa (retd) refuted the claims of the Pakistan Army's involvement in the no-trust vote against former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's government on Tuesday, The News International reported.

The Pakistan-based news daily reported, citing senior journalist Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Shami, who revealed that he interacted with the former top military officer, who said this to him at the event.

Shami quoted Bajwa as claiming on oath that he did not seek a second extension in service from the government directly or indirectly. Shami said Bajwa repeatedly held the Quran in his hand and said he had nothing to do with PMLN Quaid Nawaz Sharif's travel to the UK on medical grounds, implying that it was purely the Imran Khan government's decision, The News International reported.

Shami said that Bajwa admitted the army extended full support to Imran's government. The senior journalist explained that inaction on the part bureaucracy necessitated support from the military. Shami said the interaction with Bajwa continued for some 25 minutes, and the latter spoke a lot about various issues off the record.

Pakistan's Former Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted from power after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership. The vote was held at midnight after opposition parties brought a motion against him, following days of drama.

The vote makes Khan the first Pakistani prime minister to be ousted by a no-confidence motion, with opposition parties securing 174 votes in the 342-member house in support of the no-confidence motion.

In December 2022, Imran Khan also accused the former army chief (retired) General Qamar Javed Bajwa of playing a "double game" with his government, The Nation reported, citing a local TV channel.

Khan accepted that he committed a "big mistake" by extending the tenure of the then Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Bajwa in 2019.

"Gen Bajwa was playing a double game and I discovered later that even PTI's members were being given different messages," The Nation quoted Imran Khan as saying in the interview.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief Imran Khan said that he would believe in everything that was told by General Bajwa, The Nation reported, citing local media. Khan added that he had received reports from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) on "what games were being played against his government."