KARACHI: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Tuesday that consultations had not been initiated so far about appointment of the next army chief.

In an interview to DawnNews, the minister said no decision had been taken on the matter.

Mr Asif praised the army for facilitating the continuation of democracy in the country.

“I give credit to the Pakistan Army for completion of eight years of the democratic system,” he said.

When asked about the ouster of Senator Pervez Rashid from the information ministry, he declined to offer any comments.

“I will not comment on the issue of the former information minister’s resignation as an investigation committee is conducting an inquiry.”

In response to a question about allegations levelled by some political parties that the Sharif family was quite close to head of the committee formed to probe leak of “sensitive information” to Dawn, retired Justice Aamer Raza, Mr Asif said: “I don’t have knowledge of any relations between the Sharif family and Aamer Raza.”

“Shahbaz Sharif, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Ishaq Dar are looking after the matters relating to the news leak,” he said.

While commenting on the issue of Panama Papers leaks and the role of opposition parties on the issue, he said: “The opposition does not have concrete evidence and they are trying to prolong the scandal.”

He said he respected the courts and would therefore not comment on the remarks made by judges in the case.

The senior PML-N leader tried to dispel the impression that the government was reluctant to present the prime minister for accountability and said it would accept a bill on the Panama Papers if it was adopted by a majority in parliament.

Published in Dawn, November 9th, 2016