Karachi, Oct 23 (UNI) With no decision forthcoming on the appointment of a new chief for the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, former chairman of the Senate Mian Raza Rabbani has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan should “stop playing Russian roulette” on the appointment of the director general of the premier spy agency.
In a statement issued on Friday, the senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) drew the government’s attention towards the impact of the delay and uncertainty on the issue.
“A state of uncertainty breeds inertia in an institution. In military institutions, evaluated, quick and firm decisions are the essence of command and success,” said Rabbani.
The ex-chairman of the upper house of parliament said Pakistan could not afford uncertainty in the command structure of the Army. “As a consequence of this indecisive step, other command positions are on hold,” he pointed out.
The senior PPP leader said this was not a question of civilian authority as the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government had already ceded civilian space.
“After the death of the accountability narrative, the government is trying to build a new narrative based on civil-military relationship to be a fig leaf for the massive corruption and mis-governance,” he added.
His comments come as Imran Khan is on a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia to attend the launching ceremony of the 'Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) Summit' being held in Riyadh.
According to reports, Imran Khan had on Wednesday met Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum, who was on October 6 named as the new Director General of ISI.
After the meeting, Imran Khan was expected to formally approve the appointment of Lt Gen Anjum as the new DG ISI within a few days, but nothing has been forthcoming.
Imran Khan is keen that the incumbent spymaster Lt General Faiz Hameed continue in the post, citing the situation in Afghanistan.
Imran Khan and the chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa held a detailed meeting on the issue around 10 days ago.
Despite several days having elapsed after the military’s media affairs wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), announced that Lt Gen Anjum had been appointed the new ISI chief, the government has failed to issue a formal notification confirming the appointment.
UNI/RN