A routine matter that should have been resolved much earlier unnecessarily saw an inordinate delay and resulted in garnering undue media attention. The notification that the prime minister approved after a final round of consultation with the army chief has closed a three-week episode that consumed most of October in terms of media coverage, anxiety, and speculation both nationally and internationally. The new appointment of the DG ISI will take effect on Nov 20, 2021. At times it appeared as if the proverbial ‘one page’ was being rewritten, and at others it seemed like a never-ending impasse. Whatever it was, ideally it should not have happened.
On Oct 6, the posting of Lt-Gen Nadeem Anjum as DG ISI and of Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed as commander of the Peshawar-based Corps XI was announced. A failure or reluctance in the issuance of a proper notification generated all sorts of rumours and there emerged a feeling of a deadlock between the PTI government and the military. Since 2018, there has been a semblance of harmony between the institutions and this sudden turn of events resulted in the first publicly known stand-off in three years. There were reports that the PM wanted to retain the incumbent at his post for another couple of years, but with the final agreement reached such canards have also vanished. For the future, there is a need to avoid such controversy, as such developments receive coverage in international media – especially in the neighbouring countries – and invite unsavoury comments from commentators and observers of Pakistan politics.
It is true that there is an uncertain situation across the border in Afghanistan, and Pakistan needs stability and consensus to move in multiple directions. Pakistan’s relations with the Afghan Taliban are likely to play a significant role in coming months, and the country needs a well-coordinated approach to deal with impending challenges. Now when this matter appears to have been settled, there is no need for the government ministers to dilate upon the details of how the PM conducted interviews, who appeared in them, and how the decision was made with due deliberations. A dissection of this decision may create ill will rather than harmony. We hope that from this point on things will work smoothly and any differences within and between all our institutions will be smoothed out so that each institution can work within its own constitutional circle. The whole country waiting for weeks for one notification should be something that stays in the realm of fiction rather than reality.