Notification of appointment of DG ISI Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum issued

Notification of appointment of DG ISI Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum issued

ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minister's House has issued notification of the appointment of Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum as Director General (DG) of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) with effect from November 20, 2021.

"The Prime Minister has reviewed the summary and approved the appointment of Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum as Director General (DG) Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)," the notification said.

The notification said that "the Prime Minister reviewed the panel of officers given in the sixth paragraph of the summary and approved the appointment of Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum".

"The notification will be effective from November 20, 2021," it added.

 This notification is issued 20 days after the announcement of ISPR.

The Defense Ministry summary proposed Corps Commander Karachi Lt. Gen. Nadeem Ahmed Anjum, Chief of Logistics Staff Lt. Gen. Saqib Mehmood Malik, and Commander Southern Lt. Gen. Sarfraz Ali for the post of ISI chief.

It is to be noted that earlier news was circulating in the media that a summary from the Ministry of Defense regarding the appointment of DG ISI had reached the Prime Minister's House and a formal notification in this regard is awaited at the official level. ۔

Dispute over the deployment of DG ISI

It should be noted that the Director-General (DG) of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is appointed at the discretion of the Prime Minister, but the Prime Minister appoints the head of the country's Central Intelligence Agency in consultation with the Army Chief.

On October 6, the Pakistan Army's Public Relations Department (ISPR) said in a statement that Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum has been appointed as the new Director-General of ISI.

Earlier, the ISPR had said that the current DG ISI Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed has been posted as Corps Commander Peshawar.

However, the delay in issuing the notification of the appointment of the new Director-General of ISI by the Prime Minister's Office created ambiguity.

Delays in issuing the notification later led to rumors circulating on social media that there was no consensus between the civilian and military leadership on the issue, but the government remained silent on the issue.

Reports circulating on social media claimed that the prime minister had insisted at a cabinet meeting that a summary be sent to him along with the names of possible candidates for the post of ISI chief. It is up to them to choose one of the three as DG ISI.

On October 11, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, while talking to the media, refused to give a clear answer in his specific style to a question on the issue, saying that Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry should talk about 'civil-military issues.

In a press conference on October 12, Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry had said that the Prime Minister has the authority to appoint DG ISI and he had a detailed meeting with Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa in this regard.

"The federal government will follow the legal and constitutional procedure for the appointment of the director-general of inter-services intelligence," he said.

Referring to the rumors circulating about the issue, he said, "I see on social media, there are many people who have some aspirations. It will not hurt the respect of the Chief and the Army Chief and the Army will never take any step that will hurt the respect of the Prime Minister of Pakistan or the civil setup.

On the other hand, PTI leader Aamir Dogar had told media that Prime Minister Imran Khan had informed the federal cabinet that he had told Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa that he wanted Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed to visit neighboring Afghanistan. Due to the critical situation, he remained the Director-General of ISI for some more time.

Aamir Dogar said that Imran Khan was of the view that the government wanted to take all the institutions on board. "The body language of the Prime Minister is very positive and he seems confident," he said.

The PTI leader said the prime minister had told the cabinet that he was an elected prime minister and the country's chief executive.

Regarding the constitutional and legal procedure for the appointment of DG ISI, Amir Dogar explained that a summary with three names was to be sent to the Prime Minister, out of which he selected one which he deemed suitable for the post. Were

Later, in a tweet on the morning of October 13, the Federal Minister of Information said that the consultation process between Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on the appointment of a new Director-General of ISI has been completed and the new The appointment process has begun.

"Once again, the civilian and military leadership has proved that all institutions are united and equal for the stability, integrity, and development of the country," he said.

It should be noted that so far no notification has been issued for the appointment of the next head of ISI.