Officially, last week’s cabinet meeting didn’t discuss DG ISI’s appointment

ISLAMABAD: Last week’s cabinet meeting discussion on the DG ISI’s appointment was kept ‘informal’ ensuring that nothing is reflected in the official minutes.

An informed source told The News that ‘officially’ the issue was not discussed in the cabinet meeting. When the meeting ended, officers were told to leave as the agenda was completed. None of the officers are privy to what happened after the meeting was officially and formally over.

The source explained that for a cabinet meeting to be held, the cabinet secretary has to be present, and the minutes of the meeting must be recorded. Without that, it’s not a cabinet meeting, the source explained. However, it is said that cabinet members can meet and discuss whatever they wish to but that wouldn’t be recorded as ‘discussions or decisions’ of the cabinet.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said last Tuesday that Prime Minister Imran Khan had taken the federal cabinet into confidence over the appointment of the new director general (DG) Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Fawad had 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 to damage the civilian set-up,” he added.

“Appointments are made after due consultations, and we always fulfil all legal requirements [...] the new DG ISI’s appointment will also be made after fulfilling all the legal criteria,” he said without elaborating what the legal procedure was and what was not followed leading to the prime minister’s decision that had halted the issuance of the notification.

According to the source, whatever the information minister said on the subject and regarding the cabinet meeting’s discussion, it is neither official nor part of the cabinet meeting’s discussion and decision. There are also no minutes of these discussions.