Imran denies suggesting extension to army chief.

ISLAMABAD -- Former prime minister Imran Khan Tuesday created a commotion by saying that he never talked about giving an extension in services to the incumbent Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

In his informal talk to journalists here at his residence in Bani Gala, Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan said that he had only talked about deferment of the appointment of next Army Chief till the new government seizes power as a result of the fresh general elections.

He reiterated his stance that the appointment of new Army Chief should be deferred till the election of the next government and added that he was against 'the tradition of appointing a man of anyone's choice contrary to merit.'

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A day earlier, Khan in an interview with anchorperson Kamran Khan that was broadcast on a private TV channel, had said that the next elected government voted to power as a result of a 'free and fair elections' should appoint the new COAS and some legal provision could be found to make this arrangement work.

Appointed in 2016, COAS Gen Bajwa is set to retire in the last week of November after completing his two successive terms.

The PTI chief in the interview had avoided directly answering the repeated questions of the anchorperson whether he is asking for the extension in services of incumbent COAS and had said that he did not know about this and legal experts could tell better about this. 'I have been told by lawyers that in the better interest of the country, a provision can be found that the next government appoints the COAS,' he had also said.

Khan has consistently opposed the appointment of next Army Chief by the incumbent government led by Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a multi-party coalition.

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However, the analysts and the anchorperson Kamran Khan, who interviewed Khan, interpreted the remarks of the former prime minister in a way that he was asking for an extension in services to Army Chief till the new government takes charge.

In his informal talk, the chairman PTI said that some people put the security of the country at stake for their vested interests and brought the multi-party coalition into power through a conspiracy. 'I might disclose their names in public,' he said adding, 'Any institution who serves the interest of the country, I stand by him,' Khan was quoted as saying this in his...