Zeenews Bureau
Islamabad: Amid swirling perceptions that Pakistan Army is plotting a coup, Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani clarified on Friday that the reports on military takeover is “misleading.”
“He (General Kayani) strongly dispelled the speculations of any military takeover and said that the reports are misleading and are being used as a bogey to divert the focus from the real issues”, an Inter Services Public Relation statement quoted General Kayani as saying.
Kayani’s statement came a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said that conspiracies were being hatched to "pack up" his democratically elected government.
The Pakistan Army chief assured that the Army is totally committed to democracy.
"The Army is (aware) of its constitutional obligations and responsibilities," Kayani said in the statement.
General Kayani emphasised that the issues of national security need to be considered on merit alone.
"Kayani concluded by saying that irrespective of all other considerations, there can be no compromise on national security,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry also ruled out the possibility of a coup saying the judiciary has blocked the way of a military intervention.
"Rest is assured that the judges of the Supreme Court are here to protect and preserve the constitution," Chaudhry was quoted as saying.
"There will be no takeover," he asserted as the apex court deliberated the memogate scandal that has brought out the fissures between the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's government and the powerful security establishment.
First Published: Friday, December 23, 2011, 16:26