It’s confirmed. General Qamar Javed Bajwa was playing a “double game” all the time. The truth has been outed by Chaudhry Pervez Elahi and Moonis Elahi. They say the army chief advised them at the nth hour to renege on their commitment with the PDM to form government with them in the Punjab, and to side with Imran Khan. All this while Gen Bajwa kept assuring the PDM that he was “neutral” and wouldn’t try to swing the vote against them by leaning on the PTI’s disgruntled allies who were lining up behind them. There’s more.
PDM sources admit that General Bajwa also tried to persuade them to withdraw the VONC in exchange for a dissolution of the National Assembly by Imran Khan but they didn’t follow his advice because they couldn’t trust Imran Khan or him to keep their word. In turn, Imran Khan felt betrayed by General Bajwa when the VONC neared conclusion and threatened to sack him, which prompted a midnight SOS to the Islamabad High Court and Supreme Court to stand by and thwart the prime minister.
It’s not just Imran Khan who has accused General Bajwa of playing a “double game”. The PDM has its share of allegations too. After General Bajwa’s spat with Imran Khan over the matter of shunting Lt- General Faiz Hameed from the ISI to Peshawar Corps in late
His motive for playing a double game was to get another extension in service from Imran Khan and/or the PDM, seeking assurances from one or the other on that count. But when he realized that Imran Khan was bent on making Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed army chief in November 2022, he started to play footsie with Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari. Both seasoned politicians let him believe they would scratch his back if he scratched theirs.
General Bajwa’s last ditch effort to sway the Chaudhries to back Imran Khan was aimed at signaling his support for Imran Khan so that the latter wouldn’t get wise to his machinations and sack him. He didn’t offer the same advice to the MQM and other PTI allies because he didn’t want the PDM to lose faith in his “neutrality”. He wanted Khan to dissolve the National Assembly so that he could manipulate the new elections and bring the PDM to office in exchange for a second extension. But when neither Khan nor Sharif bought his advice, the government changed hands and a new scenario presented itself in April 2022. General Bajwa now tried to persuade the new government to call fresh elections immediately and would have succeeded if Imran Khan hadn’t hurled his threat to besiege Parliament on May 25. Under the circumstances, the PDM felt that to throw in the towel under threat from Khan would be bad for optics and prove costly in the elections. So Nawaz Sharif dug his heels in and vowed to resist both General Bajwa and Imran Khan.
Imran Khan now went on the warpath against General Bajwa for not helping him enough. Matters worsened when a perceptible backlash against the military’s interventions in politics in general, and against General Bajwa’s machin
The formula was roundly rejected. General Bajwa became threatening. Nawaz Sharif wouldn’t budge. His argument was that the PMLN had lost significant capital in implementing the hardship policies of the IMF and would be routed at the polls if these were held in March. General Bajwa now changed tack. He insisted that Generals Azhar Abbas and Saher Shamsad, who were close to him and tilted towards Imran Khan, should be elevated to the post of COAS and CJCSC respectively, failing which he would not send any suitable summary to the Ministry of Defence. Once again, Nawaz Sharif held his ground. General Bajwa was told that If he didn’t send the name of General Asim Munir, the PM would simply “retain” the service of the senior most general, namely Asim Munir, and appoint him army chief. The tensions of the last week of November were palpable. In the end, General Bajwa backed down, General Asim Munir became army chief and General Shamshad was the compromise CJCSC.
General Bajwa’s last wish was to disappear into nothingness. So he requested the Chaudhrys to bail him out with Imran Khan and the PTI in the hope that he and his family would not be constantly harassed by the PTI trolls. But even though the trolling against General Bajwa has temporarily
This is just as well. General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s role in the last six years of instability and constitutional aberration should not be forgotten or forgiven. It should serve as a lesson for self-serving adventurers.
PDM sources admit that General Bajwa also tried to persuade them to withdraw the VONC in exchange for a dissolution of the National Assembly by Imran Khan but they didn’t follow his advice because they couldn’t trust Imran Khan or him to keep their word. In turn, Imran Khan felt betrayed by General Bajwa when the VONC neared conclusion and threatened to sack him, which prompted a midnight SOS to the Islamabad High Court and Supreme Court to stand by and thwart the prime minister.
It’s not just Imran Khan who has accused General Bajwa of playing a “double game”. The PDM has its share of allegations too. After General Bajwa’s spat with Imran Khan over the matter of shunting Lt- General Faiz Hameed from the ISI to Peshawar Corps in late
His motive for playing a double game was to get another extension in service from Imran Khan and/or the PDM, seeking assurances from one or the other on that count. But when he realized that Imran Khan was bent on making Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed army chief in November 2022, he started to play footsie with Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari. Both seasoned politicians let him believe they would scratch his back if he scratched theirs.
General Bajwa’s last ditch effort to sway the Chaudhries to back Imran Khan was aimed at signaling his support for Imran Khan so that the latter wouldn’t get wise to his machinations and sack him. He didn’t offer the same advice to the MQM and other PTI allies because he didn’t want the PDM to lose faith in his “neutrality”. He wanted Khan to dissolve the National Assembly so that he could manipulate the new elections and bring the PDM to office in exchange for a second extension. But when neither Khan nor Sharif bought his advice, the government changed hands and a new scenario presented itself in April 2022. General Bajwa now tried to persuade the new government to call fresh elections immediately and would have succeeded if Imran Khan hadn’t hurled his threat to besiege Parliament on May 25. Under the circumstances, the PDM felt that to throw in the towel under threat from Khan would be bad for optics and prove costly in the elections. So Nawaz Sharif dug his heels in and vowed to resist both General Bajwa and Imran Khan.
Imran Khan now went on the warpath against General Bajwa for not helping him enough. Matters worsened when a perceptible backlash against the military’s interventions in politics in general, and against General Bajwa’s machin
The formula was roundly rejected. General Bajwa became threatening. Nawaz Sharif wouldn’t budge. His argument was that the PMLN had lost significant capital in implementing the hardship policies of the IMF and would be routed at the polls if these were held in March. General Bajwa now changed tack. He insisted that Generals Azhar Abbas and Saher Shamsad, who were close to him and tilted towards Imran Khan, should be elevated to the post of COAS and CJCSC respectively, failing which he would not send any suitable summary to the Ministry of Defence. Once again, Nawaz Sharif held his ground. General Bajwa was told that If he didn’t send the name of General Asim Munir, the PM would simply “retain” the service of the senior most general, namely Asim Munir, and appoint him army chief. The tensions of the last week of November were palpable. In the end, General Bajwa backed down, General Asim Munir became army chief and General Shamshad was the compromise CJCSC.
General Bajwa’s last wish was to disappear into nothingness. So he requested the Chaudhrys to bail him out with Imran Khan and the PTI in the hope that he and his family would not be constantly harassed by the PTI trolls. But even though the trolling against General Bajwa has temporarily
This is just as well. General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s role in the last six years of instability and constitutional aberration should not be forgotten or forgiven. It should serve as a lesson for self-serving adventurers.