Pak PM Imran gasps & splutters at 'what if ISI & Pak Army ask you to resign?' Makes threat

'Naya' Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that the Pakistan Army is an institution that backs a democratic government and added that the relations between his government and the military are the "best in history"  In an interview with SAMAA TV, Imran Khan said had an ISI DG asked him to step down as the premier, he would have immediately demanded his resignation.

'I will demand his resignation'

“I would immediately demand his resignation,” PM Khan said, referring to Nawaz Sharif’s alleged claim that former ISI DG Lieutenant General (retired) Zaheer-ul-Islam had asked him to step down as Pakistan’s Prime Minister during the 2014 sit-in. "You were the Prime Minister, [how] does he have the courage to say that to you? If someone tells that to me, I will demand his resignation. I am the democratically elected Prime Minister; who can dare to tell me to step down?" he said.

He said that Nawaz had attempted to remove former military chief General (retired) Pervez Musharraf when he (Musharraf) was visiting Sri Lanka. “If any army chief had attacked Kargil without asking me, I would have summoned him before me and sacked him,” PM Khan said. Musharraf had subsequently deposed Nawaz Sharif in a coup and amassed power for years. Both are currently abroad now, however, afraid of incarceration or worse if they return to Pakistan.

'Army is completely standing behind the Democratic govt'

Commenting on his government’s relationship with the army, Imran Khan said the country has always had problems when it comes to civil-military relations. Khan, however, asked if mistakes were made by an Army Chief in the past, do they have to call the institution bad forever.

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“The point is that the past is just to learn. We learned that the military’s job is not to run the country,” he said. “If democracy is harming the country, it doesn’t mean that it should be replaced with martial law.” The Prime Minister said the country’s military had “evolved” over the years. “The current civil-military relations are the best in Pakistan’s history,” he said. “The reason is that the Pakistan Army is completely standing behind the democratic government.”

Imran Khan also said PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif is playing a "dangerous game" by levelling allegations of political interference against the army and claimed that the former premier has India's support. "This is a dangerous game Nawaz is playing; Altaf Hussain played the same game," he said.

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