Paan Singh
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Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari plans to not only disband the political wing of the spy agency but also make it accountable to his country's parliament, reports Amir Mir
In an unprecedented move, the Asif Ali Zardari-led Pakistan People's Party government has decided to clip the wings of the all-powerful Inter-Services Intelligence through parliamentary legislation, which will not only disband the political wing of the spy agency but also make it fully accountable to the elected parliament and the civilian government.
It is for the first time in the 65-year history of Pakistan that a serious effort is being made to streamline the affairs of the ISI, which has always remained under criticism for encroaching upon the authority of the elected governments.
The ISI has always been accused of being actively involved in managing political activity both inside and outside the government and making or breaking political parties and political alliances for well over the past three decades. A 19-page draft of a bill has now been submitted in the upper house of the parliament -- the Senate -- by none other than Farhatullah Babar, the official spokesman of Zardari, which will be taken up during the next session of the house commencing Monday.
The political cell of the ISI has infiltrated into and manipulated Pakistan's politics and other influential areas of social life to such an extent that it seems an uphill task to revert it to its original mandate, to its basic role of just intelligence gathering.
However, the government has decided to tame the country's premier intelligence agency by disbanding its political wing, although a similar effort by the Zardari government had backfired in November 2008, hardly a few days after the PPP had assumed power following the general elections.
Special: Pakistan government to finally clip ISI wings - Rediff.com News
In an unprecedented move, the Asif Ali Zardari-led Pakistan People's Party government has decided to clip the wings of the all-powerful Inter-Services Intelligence through parliamentary legislation, which will not only disband the political wing of the spy agency but also make it fully accountable to the elected parliament and the civilian government.
It is for the first time in the 65-year history of Pakistan that a serious effort is being made to streamline the affairs of the ISI, which has always remained under criticism for encroaching upon the authority of the elected governments.
The ISI has always been accused of being actively involved in managing political activity both inside and outside the government and making or breaking political parties and political alliances for well over the past three decades. A 19-page draft of a bill has now been submitted in the upper house of the parliament -- the Senate -- by none other than Farhatullah Babar, the official spokesman of Zardari, which will be taken up during the next session of the house commencing Monday.
The political cell of the ISI has infiltrated into and manipulated Pakistan's politics and other influential areas of social life to such an extent that it seems an uphill task to revert it to its original mandate, to its basic role of just intelligence gathering.
However, the government has decided to tame the country's premier intelligence agency by disbanding its political wing, although a similar effort by the Zardari government had backfired in November 2008, hardly a few days after the PPP had assumed power following the general elections.
Special: Pakistan government to finally clip ISI wings - Rediff.com News
