Imran insists Alvi will consult him on chief's selection.

LAHORE -- Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has claimed that President Dr Arif Alvi will 'definitely' consult him as soon as the summary for the appointment of next army chief reaches his office.

'President Dr Arif Alvi will definitely consult me on the summary for the appointment of army chief and take a decision as per the law and Constitution. I am head of the party that Dr Alvi belongs to,' he remarked.

Mr Khan's comments come in the wake of statements by several government figures that only the prime minister enjoys the constitutional authority to appoint an army chief, with no requirement for any consultation, and that the president should play his constitutional role in the process rather than create hurdles.

As PTI is scheduled to resume its long march from Rawalpindi on Nov 26, Mr Khan, while responding to a question about plans for a sit-in in the garrison city, said he would like to maintain the 'suspense and reveal my next plan while addressing the masses on Saturday'.

Speaking to a select group of journalists at his Zaman Park residence on Wednesday, the PTI chief claimed the new army chief's neutrality had already been affected with the involvement of the 'convict' PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif in the process and him having a say in a matter of national security.

'Nawaz Sharif would have sought commitments from whoever they want to appoint that he would push the PTI against the wall and ensure all cases against him are closed.'

He said he had been consistently saying the army chief should be appointed on merit, and clearly stated that PTI would not approach a court following the appointment.

Answering a question, the PTI chairman rejected army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa's statement about a 'false narrative' around the regime change conspiracy, and asserted the cipher had been presented before the National Security Committee when he was still the premier, and later Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also discussed it in another meeting of the committee.

The NSC as well as Pakistan's former ambassador to the US Asad Majeed Khan accepted that the tone of the document was 'threatening' and a conspiracy hatched.

After this, he said, the NSC decided to demarche the US ambassador here in Islamabad. 'So, how come a 'false narrative' was created?' he questioned.

He further said President Alvi had also written a letter to the chief justice of Pakistan about the cipher however there was no development on the subject.

Mr Khan...