Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday said the consultation between Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa over the appointment of the new director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is complete, and that the process of a fresh appointment is underway.
Chaudhry posted this update on his Twitter account a day after his press conference in which he had asserted that the legal procedure would be followed for the appointment of the new DG ISI. He had insisted that both General Bajwa and Prime Minister Imran were in agreement on this issue.
In his tweet on Wednesday, the information minister said: “The consultations between the prime minister and the chief of army staff on the appointment of a new DG ISI have been completed and the process for the new appointment has begun. The civil-military leadership has once again proven that all institutions are united for the country’s stability, integrity and progress.”
وزیر اعظم اور آرمی چیف کے درمیان نئے DG ISI کی تقرری پر مشاورت کا عمل مکمل ہو چکا ہے اور نئ تقرری کا پراسس شروع ہو چکا ہے، ایک بار پھر سول اور فوجی قیادت نے یہ ثابت کیا ہے کہ ملک کے استحکام، سالمیت اور ترقی کیلئے تمام ادارے متحد اور یکساں ہیں
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) October 13, 2021
On October 6, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had announced Lt Gen Anjum’s appointment as the new ISI chief. Lt Gen Hameed, formerly the ISI director general, was posted as Peshawar corps commander.
A notification confirming Lt Gen Anjum’s appointment as the new DG ISI was not issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, leading to great speculation in the federal capital as well as on social media.
The government did not comment on the issue until Tuesday, following a lengthy meeting between the prime minister and army chief.
The appointment of ISI director general is a prerogative of the prime minister. The spymaster’s choice is, however, made by the prime minister in consultation with the army chief.
Meanwhile, experts in defence matters say the procedure for the appointment of the ISI director general is neither mentioned in the Constitution nor the Army Act, and all past appointments were made through a tradition of the army chief proposing three names to the prime minister who then makes the final decision.
