ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party senior leader and former special assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Nadeem Afzal Chan has claimed that former ISI Director-General Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed and former director-general ISPR Lt-Gen Asif Ghafoor would run most affairs of former prime Imran Khan’s government.
‘Two generals were Imran Khan’s eyes and ears’
Talking exclusively to We News, Chan said Imran Khan was most dependent on Gen Faiz Hameed and Gen Asif Ghafoor. “The policies of the government were also decided by these two men and they were the eyes and ears of Imran Khan,” he said
‘Gen Faiz was part of government, not establishment’
Answering a question about Gen Faiz’s role in the Imran Khan’s government, he said, “Gen Faiz was not part of the establishment but the PTI and the government. “He used to be present at the Prime Minister’s chamber every day.”
‘Offer of last-minute extension’
Regarding the allegations levelled by Imran Khan against former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa after being ousted from power, Chan said that Imran Khan kept offering him an extension till the last moment.
‘Usman Buzdar was Imran Khan’s biggest failure’
Chan answered a question about his joining the PTI and said: “the politics of his constituency was more involved in this regard but he made a mistake in this connection. A year later, I realised that this decision was not right. I had joined Imran Khan considering him a leader, but after coming to the government, contradiction of his words and actions became palpable. He tried to talk to the people, but when the opportunity came to select the team, he completely ignored this aspect. Undoubtedly, Imran Khan’s biggest failure was Usman Buzdar.”
‘Khan got decision from somewhere else’
Regarding sending the reference against Supreme Court judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the former special assistant said, “It was decided in the cabinet meeting that the reference will not be sent against Justice Isa, but Khan received the decision from elsewhere and the reference was sent.”
‘Governance issues in PPP era’
In response to a question about working with the PPP leadership and seeing and understanding it closely, Chan said: “I had little opportunity to work directly with Benazir Bhutto. Most of the contact was through telephone or correspondence, but heard from the rest of the people and saw that Benazir and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had spent public time. Whenever the PPP government comes to power, everyone from the people to the workers feels that this is a people’s era. There are problems of governance, but the credit for reforming the constitution, law and administrative structure goes to the PPP.”
“This man has political ambitions.”
Referring to the movement for restoration of judiciary, he said, “In this movement, political people were beaten and he himself faced batons and sticks. We were told by the then president Asif Ali Zardari that this man (former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry) has political ambitions, which will spoil the entire system including the judiciary. Majority of the government legislators insisted that the judiciary be restored immediately, but time proved that Asif Zardari’s stance was accurate.”
On the question of how the PPP was wiped out in Punjab? Afzal Chan replied, Asif Ali Zardari, following the charter of democracy, allowed the PML-N to form the government instead of the Q-League in Punjab.
According to him, after seeing the attitude of the PML-N at that time, it seemed that that was a wrong decision. Six months later, the PML-N parted ways with the federal government on the issue of restoring the judiciary, but later it was found that Gen (retd) Ashfaq Parvez Kayani was behind the movement. “If we had formed the government in Punjab by aligning with the Q-League at that time, we would not have suffered so much. But we also made this sacrifice to oust Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf from power under the charter of democracy.”
‘Bilawal Bhutto next PM’
On the question of who will be the next prime minister, he said, “I want Bilawal Bhutto to become the next prime minister because the PPP is the only party that can take everyone along at this time.”
‘Anti-establishment class has joined Khan’
Asked about the ‘anti-establishment class’ role, the former special assistant said, “There has always been anti-establishment thinking in the country. Earlier, this section was with the PPP in large numbers, then when Nawaz Sharif raised the slogan of give respect to the vote, people walked towards him. The persecuted anti-capitalist and anti-establishment class of the country joined Imran Khan after he was ousted from power.”
‘Political parties and controlled democracy’
Regarding hereditary politics, Chan believed that “there is no doubt that there is a controlled democracy in political parties. “Election commission’s rules and party constitution are not being followed with practical actions.”
‘I have a losing ticket’
Regarding contesting the upcoming elections, Nadeem Afzal Chan said, “After partying ways with the PTI, he was offered to join the PML-N. “At that time, the wind of the PML-N was blowing, but if I had become part of the N-League, it would have been opportunism,” he said adding that the PPP was apparently third in his constituency at the moment and I have a losing ticket. But the kind of politics I want to do can be done better in the PPP.”
‘Maryam Nawaz and public touch’
Regarding Maryam Nawaz, he said that it was a welcome process and the Nawaz Sharif’s voters have now shifted towards her. However, he said, she needs to give a little ‘public touch’ to her style of politics.
Imran Khan will benefit from arrest
Regarding Imran Khan’s arrest, he said he should not be arrested in politically-motivated cases. “Yes, if there is a case, then the decision should be taken according to the law. Only Imran Khan will benefit from the arrest made in a political case.”
‘Capitalists every political party’s apple of eye’
“There are 300 people (capitalists) in the country who do not have any party or a sect of their own, but they are the apple of every political party’s eye and they also benefit from every policy. If we want to get public support, then these capitalists have to be removed from policy making. Instead of looking at anyone else, especially the judiciary, politicians will have to sit in parliament and solve problems. Electables have to be discouraged and democracy must be promoted within political parties.”
