The newly appointed Shehbaz Sharif government has meekly surrendered to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the notorious Pakistan spy agency which has become even more powerful.
Under a new notification issued on Thursday, the ISI for the first time will become a Special Vetting Agency (SVA) for induction, appointments and important posting of all officers in government.
In other words, the ISI, which is part of the Pakistani military will have a veto power overall all senior appointments, giving is enormous power of patronage that can be leveraged to manoeuvre the entire ruling establishment.
Prior to the latest order it was the civilian-controlled Intelligence Bureau (IB) at the federal and Special Branch at the provincial level that had the power to inspect and examine the appointments/ postings/ promotions, The News International reported.
Sharif’s decision has triggered considerable anxiety in Pakistan. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) tweeted that it is “deeply concerned” by the decision, pointing out that that “the role of military in civilian affairs needs to recede if Pakistan is to move forward as a democracy.