Remarks made by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Spokesperson Naeemul Haque on a TV show have landed him in hot water, as he alleged that former chief of army staff Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani had rigged the last General Election.
Haque made the comments on Geo TV's 'Aaj Shahzaib Khanzada Kay Saath' on Monday night where he said his party lost the elections because of the former army chief.
Hours later, the PTI leader issued a clarification saying in a tweet: "My comments on Geo last night about General Kayani were my own and do not reflect [the] party['s] stance in any way."
"I have not accused General Kayani of anything but asked him for clarification of insinuations levelled against him in a national newspaper," he added.
On the show, Haque said a "grand scheme" had been hatched between Pakistan, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Kayani to make Nawaz Sharif win the 2013 election.
He added that the PTI's "suspicions were proven correct" and "a lot of people were exposed."
The spokesperson added that the allegations were made in the column of a national newspaper.
The article Haque was referring to is a piece penned by Nazeer Naji for Dunya News. A note by the publication appears at the bottom of the article requesting readers to "enjoy the tone" of the column rather than taking it seriously.
Speaking to Geo News after the incident, Haque said that he had been instructed by PTI Chairman Imran Khan to issue a clarification regarding his comments on the show.
"I have spoken to Imran Khan and he ordered me to clarify that this is not the stance of the party. It was an article published in a newspaper, and my tweet and opinion were in my personal capacity," Haque told Geo News.
"I tweeted the clarification as soon as I could this morning," Haque said, adding that since the allegations had been raised by a journalist, they should be addressed by Kayani.