DG-ISI appointment to be made as per set procedure
Minister for Information & Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry Tuesday said that Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa enjoy ideal relationship and the matter of appointment of Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (DG-ISI) would be resolved amicably.
Addressing a press conference following the federal cabinet meeting, the minister said the authority to appoint the DG of the ISI ‘lies with the prime minister’, and that the set procedure would be followed for the purpose.
‘The legal procedure will be followed in the appointment of the new DG-ISI, for which both [Gen Bajwa and Prime Minister Imran] are in agreement,” media outlets quoted the minister as saying.
Fawad Chaudhry said that Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa have ideal civil-military relations and they both never take any steps that could disrespect each other.
Chaudhry said PM Imran and the army chief had a long sitting Monday night to discuss the matter and the premier had subsequently taken the cabinet into confidence over the issue.
He said Gen Bajwa and the prime minister have close and cordial relations. And it is also important from a historical perspective that there are ideal relations between Pakistan’s civilian and military leaderships, he added.
Referring to rumours circulating about the matter, Chaudhry said that the Prime Minister’s Office will never undermine the respect of Pakistan Army or the army chief.
He said the COAS and the army will never take any step that will undermine the respect of Pakistan’s prime minister or the civilian setup.
He stressed that both the premier and the military leadership were in close coordination, and the DG ISI appointment would be made after fulfilling all the legal requirements.
He said both (PM Imran and Gen Bajwa) are in agreement over this and the prime minister has the authority over it. Chaudhry also appreciated the media for not “sensationalising” the matter of the DG ISI’s appointment.
Other decisions
The federal cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Imran, discussed the country’s overall political and economic situation.
Detailing the decisions taken by the meeting, the information minister told the news conference that the cabinet had given its approval for the formation of the Rehmatul-lil-Aalameen Authority.
Referring to criticism of ministers on social media for not attending the funeral of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, Chaudhry clarified that although Prime Minister Imran had not attended the last rites of the nuclear scientist, more than 15 ministers did attend the funeral.
With regards to electoral reforms, the minister said the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government was committed to facilitate overseas Pakistanis to vote in the elections. He announced that the cabinet had also agreed to launch an online service for the creation of powers of attorney for overseas Pakistanis.
During the meeting, the Establishment Division informed the cabinet that there were 80 vacancies in government departments and of those, appointments on around 40 would be made on the basis of a competitive process, Chaudhry said. He added that the government had made 80 appointments on top positions and all of them were based on merit.
The cabinet was also given a presentation on the formation of a new unit for riot/mob control. The new unit would employ modern technology and would be trained to control riots so that Islamabad could be saved from attacks by mobs, according to the minister.
Chaudhry also announced that the cabinet had decided to introduce an online visa service for foreigners working on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
He said the visa fee had been waived for Afghans coming to Pakistan and it had been decided that Afghan traders would be included in the category of Pakistan business visa.
“We want to encourage legal travel from Afghanistan to Pakistan,” he said, adding that an online facility for issuing visas to Afghans would also be launched.
Chaudhry said approval had also been accorded to the formation of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority’s council of complaints in Islamabad and it was for the first time that women had been included in the council.
He said the cabinet had approved almost all decisions taken during the Economic Coordination Committee meeting on October 7. The Islamabad Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2020, was also approved, he concluded.
