Appointing ISI DG PM’s prerogative: Fawad

By News desk

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said that Prime Minister Imran Khan took the federal cabinet into confidence regarding the appointment of new director general (DG) Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) during a meeting on Tuesday.

He said the premier assured the cabinet members that all the people concerned "are on the same page" and that the appointment of DG ISI would be finalised soon "amicably". The premier regretted that there had been attempts to give the matter the wrong spin on the media.

Briefing the media and replying to questions from reporters regarding the cabinet meeting here, he said that all legal and constitutional prerequisites would be fulfilled with reference to the appointment of DG ISI, though he avoided elaborating the ‘legal and constitutional’ method for appointment.

The minister said: "A long meeting took place between PM Imran Khan and the army chief last night", adding that the government shares "an ideal relationship with the military”.

"The Prime Minister's Office will not take any step that will tarnish the reputation of the army and the sipah salar [army chief], and neither will the army or its chief take any step that will damage the civilian setup," he said. The information minister said the prime minister and the army chief "share a good working relationship", and both sides are on the same page regarding the appointment. The minister reminded the media that the DG ISI's appointment is the prerogative of the prime minister, but consultations are always held beforehand. "Any appointments that we make are after consultation, and we always fulfil all legal requirements [...] the new DG ISI's appointment will also be made after fulfilling all legal criteria," he said.

Replying to question whether the new DG ISI would be the same, about whom an announcement was already made, the minister emphasised, “I have already said that all the constitutional and legal requirements will be fulfilled in this connection”.

The minister pointed out that the media did not make the issue of DG ISI sensational and did responsible reporting on which “I would like to commend them”. He said that the “biggest challenge for us is how to check the wrong news from the real news and after seeing something on the social media, we must first confirm it”.