Islamabad , Pakistan ( CNN ) -- Pakistan was abuzz Friday with political rumor and intrigue about the possibility of a looming clash between elected leaders and the military after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said he believed plots were under way to topple the government . `` Government , Army on collision course , '' read the headline of the main story on the website of Dawn , a leading English-language newspaper in Pakistan . `` Gilani takes army head on , '' said the top article on the website of The Nation , another major daily . The papers appeared to be interpreting Gilani 's comments Thursday , in which he said there were `` conspiracies and intrigues being hatched to pack up the elected government , '' as an implicit attack on Pakistan 's powerful military , which has seized power from civilian authorities a number of times in the country 's history . Gilani said Thursday that no institution `` can be a state within a state '' and that `` every ministry , including the Ministry of Defense , is answerable to the Parliament of Pakistan . '' The Pakistani military denied Gilani 's claims Friday , issuing a statement saying the `` Army has and will continue to support democratic process in the country . '' Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani , chief of army staff , `` dispelled the speculations of any military takeover and said that these are misleading and are being used as a bogey to divert the focus from the real issues , '' the military statement said . Gilani 's provocative statements come amid a turbulent period in Pakistan 's domestic politics and in its relations with the United States . There is widespread controversy in Pakistan over a scandal -- dubbed `` Memogate '' -- in which Pakistan 's civilian leaders were supposedly coming up with a plan to unseat the country 's military leadership . The killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. Navy Seals in May during a raid on a compound located only about a mile from the Pakistan Military Academy in Abbottabad enraged the Pakistani public and deeply embarrassed the military . Relations became even more strained in November , after NATO forces killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers in airstrikes near the Afghan border -- an attack the United States insists was an act of self-defense after troops were fired upon . Amid heavy domestic pressure in Pakistan , President Asif Ali Zardari 's government made decisions unpopular with the United States , such as stopping the transport of NATO supplies through Pakistan and asking the U.S. military to vacate the Shamsi air base . The Memogate scandal has emboldened Zardari 's opponents , who think he favors closer ties with the U.S. military . Husain Haqqani , the former Pakistani ambassador to the United States who resigned in November , is accused of writing a memo setting out the scheme . The plot reportedly called for taking power away from the country 's senior military and intelligence leaders , requesting U.S. assistance in stopping a military coup , asking for American backing of the Zardari government , and vowing to make Pakistan 's foreign policy favorable to the United States . Haqqani says he did n't write the memo , which allegedly was passed along to U.S. officials by Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz days after a U.S. military raid killed bin Laden in May . Following petitions filed by different people -- including Nawaz Sharif , the head of the major opposition party -- the Supreme Court of Pakistan has been investigating the Memogate scandal for a couple of weeks . Complicating matters further , Zardari traveled to Dubai for medical reasons earlier this month , fueling speculation in Pakistan that the embattled leader may resign . Zardari has since returned to Pakistan . CNN 's Shaan Kahn and Jethro Mullen , and journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report .
NEW : Military denies prime minister 's claim of a plot . Prime Minister Gilani says there are conspiracies to bring down the government . Comment: The prime minister 's remarks come amid widespread controversy over a leaked memo .