Pakistan's ruling alliance questions PM Sharif’s decision to empower ISI to conduct verification of civil servants

The Sharif government issued a notification on Friday to give the status of a Special Vetting Agency (SVA) to the ISI.

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.

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.

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, The Express Tribune newspaper has reported.

They quipped that the premier should also consider including politicians in the notification as “most of the traitors” were there.

"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.

In a tweet, Mr. Babar said that the decision must be unacceptable to many coalition partners, and they must protest to reverse it, adding that unilateral alteration in civil service rules must be challenged.