ISLAMABAD-Pakistan People’s Party leader Faisal Karim Kundi – who is also the Special Assistant to Prime Minister – said yesterday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan was destroying peace in the country. Speaking at a news conference here, he said Imran Khan’s long march against the government was actually a quick march for the PTI leaders and a slow march for the PTI. “PTI leader Faisal Vawda has already put the objectives of the long march in front of everyone. Kundi said if Imran Khan was interested in early elections, he should dissolve assemblies in the provinces where PTI was in power.
 May Allah not allow such a situation to arise as Faisal Vawda has warned,” he said. Kundi said the PTI had spread fake news about late journalist Arshad Sharif leaving Dubai amid threats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “No such letter was written by the Foreign Ministry. It is a matter of great regret such fake news are spread,” he said.
“Imran Khan should dissolve the assemblies today and elections will be held. The way Imran Khan has conspired to defame the institutions will benefit India,” he contended. 
He said the federal government will only hold elections on its schedule after completing its constitutional tenure, that is in October, 2023. “To satisfy Imran Khan, we can offer him any date of October 2023 for elections,” he added.
He denounced all fake news attributed to former president Asif Ali Zardari and categorically ruled out any back-door meetings with PTI chief. Meanwhile, he slammed Imran Khan for allegedly holding the “midnight secret meetings”, which he said was continuing to this day.
He said that the appointment of the next army chief would be held as per the set procedure that was practiced in the past as well, ruling out any consultation with the PTI chief.
“The appointment of chief of army staff is a prerogative of the prime minister,” said Kundi, adding that the secretary defence would forward names to the prime minister, and out of those names PM would select one name.
He also said that the Prime Minister can also hold deliberations with the allied political parties in the coalition government over the appointment of the army chief, categorically stating that “Imran Khan is nobody that the PM would hold discussion pertaining to this matter”.
He said the sole purpose of constituting the committee, to hold talks with the PTI leadership in the wake of the long march, was to avoid criticism from the media on a democratic government which believed in amicable solutions to all problems, adding the committee had representation from all the allied political parties.
He predicted that Imran Khan would not enter Islamabad but would limit his march only to Punjab.