PM wanted Lt Gen Faiz Hameed to continue service: Amir Dogar

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) leader and Member of National Assembly (MNA) Amir Dogar has asserted that Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted Lt Gen Faiz Hameed to continue as the director-general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) amid the evolving situation in Afghanistan.

Speaking to a private news channel on Tuesday, Amir Dogar, who is also the special assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs, said that the premier wanted Lt Gen Faiz Hameed to serve for a few more months.

“During today’s cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister had mentioned that respect for the army and for the prime minister go hand in hand,” Amir said, adding that the government wants to be on the same page with all the institutions.

According to the special assistant, three to five names will be put forward before the prime minister and he will pick the new DG ISI from them. “The prime minister said he has no egoistical concerns when it comes to the appointment,” Dogar pointed out.

Referring to PM Imran’s meeting with Chief of Army Staff, the special assistant said that the premier’s body language during his meeting with Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa remained positive and he was satisfied.

“PM Imran told the cabinet that he had an exemplary relationship with the army chief.” The prime minister, according to Dogar, had noted that Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum was also a good professional soldier.

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Secretary Barrister Maleeka Bokhari questioned why was the notification for the DG ISI’s appointment being termed as a “crisis”. “This is not a big issue but people are trying to make a mountain out of a molehill,” the PTI lawmaker said.

‘PM Imran rules out differences’

Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired a meeting of the federal cabinet earlier in the day during which the matter of the appointment of the DG ISI also came up. The prime minister took the cabinet members into confidence over the issue.

PM Imran Khan assured the cabinet that all the people concerned “are on the same page” and that the appointment will be finalised “amicably”.