Pak ruling ally opposes PM's order allowing ISI to screen civil servants

Pakistan's ruling alliance have questioned Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s decision to empower the spy agency - Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) - to conduct verification of all government officers before their induction, appointments and postings, as well as promotions. According to the Express Tribune Some members belonging to allied parties even criticised Prime Minister Sharif for not taking the coalition partners and parliament into confidence, vowing to take the matter to the court. "This has been done behind the back of coalition partners and parliament," Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) General-Secretary Farhatullah Babar said, asking why the decision was taken as it is not a single-party government.

PML-N former information minister Pervaiz Rashid also questioned the move in a tweet, saying if the task of investigating civilian officers was included in ISI’s responsibilities, then the spy agency should also be placed under civilian control and be accountable to the parliament. PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar chided the premier on tasking the intelligence agency to vet government officers by “requesting” that Sharif include all public office holders in the notification at once. PPP leader Mian Raza Rabbani also said that the notification issued by the federal government, declaring the ISI as the SVA, was “surprising”. “The verification and screening of all civil servants before their induction, appointments, postings and promotions by the SVA amounts to ceding civilian space,” Rabbani said.

The Express Tribune also reported some bureaucrats as saying that the spy agency with the special status and powers would keep an eye on the moral and financial affairs of the government officers and would submit details to the promotion boards, especially the high-powered board and Central Selection Board (CSB). The opposition also questioned the move, with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Fawad Chaudhry voicing his concerns over the matter. Fawad said that if "institutions wanted to increase their role in civilian affairs, then they would have to pay for it in the form of public accountability".

The Sharif government issued a notification on Friday to give the status of a Special Vetting Agency (SVA) to the ISI. The decision angered not just the allies but also his own Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). The ISI is Pakistan's powerful spy agency. In 1950, it was officially given the task of safeguarding Pakistani interests and national security, inside and outside the country.