ISLAMABAD: The relationship between Pakistan’s top civilian and military leadership has been under strain ever since PM Imran Khan refused to notify the Karachi corps commander Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum as the new director general of the ISI.
Imran’s cabinet members and aides repeatedly claim that the issue has been resolved in a meeting between the PM and the army chief, but the controversy refuses to die down. While they expect it to get resolved sooner or later, the stand-off appears to have caused enough damage to the government that has so far survived on the numerical strength of some smaller parties and independently elected lawmakers considered to be tacitly controlled by the powerful military establishment.
On October 6, Pakistan’s army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had reshuffled the top military hierarchy, transferring ISI’s chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed to Peshawar as a corps commander, and appointing Karachi’s corps commander Lt Gen Nadeen Ahmed Anjum as the new director general of the spy agency. The move not to consult the PM on appointing someone to the post and Imran’s subsequent reluctance to endorse that appointment “against the law and constitutional norms” has halted even routine military postings and transfers.
Due to the civil-military impasse caused by Bajwa’s unilateral order, Hameed has not yet relinquished his job of a spymaster. The Peshawar corps commander Lt Gen Nauman Mehmood has not taken charge of his new assignment as president of the National Defence University. Nadeem Anjum still serves as Karachi’s corps commander. Similarly, Lt Gen Muhammad Saeed cannot assume charge as long as Anjum remains Karachi’s corps commander.
Senior military officers familiar with the ongoing developments said that the army chief had asked the PM several times that Hameed would have to move out of the ISI, only for Imran to further defer taking the decision. Earlier this month, Gen Bajwa reportedly told the PM that he could not wait much longer as three lieutenant generals were retiring and he had to order the transfers. His order to change Hameed as ISI DG and Imran’s refusal, citing that the move was against the rule, has stressed the already imbalanced relations between the government and the military.
Last Wednesday, two cabinet members confirmed that the PM had received a summary from the ministry of defence for the appointment of the new ISI chief.
Now, the PM, according to one of his ministers, wants to meet all three candidates so he can reject two three-star generals after interviewing them. If the PM rejects Anjum’s selection as the new ISI chief, defence analysts believe it would make the top military leadership more uncomfortable.
Interior minister Sheikh Rasheed, however, said that the issue of appointment of the new ISI director general would be resolved within a week but was reluctant to give reasons for the delay.
Lawmakers of Imran’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) revealed that many in the party were concerned about the events that had followed in the past 10 days. Their worries are not without a reason given that they enjoy a thin majority in the parliament and that too with the support of lawmakers who are loyal to the country’s powerful military establishment.
Imran’s cabinet members and aides repeatedly claim that the issue has been resolved in a meeting between the PM and the army chief, but the controversy refuses to die down. While they expect it to get resolved sooner or later, the stand-off appears to have caused enough damage to the government that has so far survived on the numerical strength of some smaller parties and independently elected lawmakers considered to be tacitly controlled by the powerful military establishment.
On October 6, Pakistan’s army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had reshuffled the top military hierarchy, transferring ISI’s chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed to Peshawar as a corps commander, and appointing Karachi’s corps commander Lt Gen Nadeen Ahmed Anjum as the new director general of the spy agency. The move not to consult the PM on appointing someone to the post and Imran’s subsequent reluctance to endorse that appointment “against the law and constitutional norms” has halted even routine military postings and transfers.
Due to the civil-military impasse caused by Bajwa’s unilateral order, Hameed has not yet relinquished his job of a spymaster. The Peshawar corps commander Lt Gen Nauman Mehmood has not taken charge of his new assignment as president of the National Defence University. Nadeem Anjum still serves as Karachi’s corps commander. Similarly, Lt Gen Muhammad Saeed cannot assume charge as long as Anjum remains Karachi’s corps commander.
Senior military officers familiar with the ongoing developments said that the army chief had asked the PM several times that Hameed would have to move out of the ISI, only for Imran to further defer taking the decision. Earlier this month, Gen Bajwa reportedly told the PM that he could not wait much longer as three lieutenant generals were retiring and he had to order the transfers. His order to change Hameed as ISI DG and Imran’s refusal, citing that the move was against the rule, has stressed the already imbalanced relations between the government and the military.
Last Wednesday, two cabinet members confirmed that the PM had received a summary from the ministry of defence for the appointment of the new ISI chief.
Now, the PM, according to one of his ministers, wants to meet all three candidates so he can reject two three-star generals after interviewing them. If the PM rejects Anjum’s selection as the new ISI chief, defence analysts believe it would make the top military leadership more uncomfortable.
Interior minister Sheikh Rasheed, however, said that the issue of appointment of the new ISI director general would be resolved within a week but was reluctant to give reasons for the delay.
Lawmakers of Imran’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) revealed that many in the party were concerned about the events that had followed in the past 10 days. Their worries are not without a reason given that they enjoy a thin majority in the parliament and that too with the support of lawmakers who are loyal to the country’s powerful military establishment.
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