Imran’s choice for interior minister raises eyebrows
islamabad — The new interior minister, appointed in a major cabinet reshuffle this month by Prime Minister Imran Khan, is a former spy chief and close ally of the country’s last military ruler.
The appointment of retired Brigadier Ijaz Shah has been heavily criticised by the opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), whose slain former leader Benazir Bhutto regarded him as a deadly enemy.
Some analysts said it suggested Pakistan’s powerful military continued to wield heavy influence over the civilian administration.
In an interview with the BBC after his appointment, Shah said: “What power can I give the military as interior minister? I left the army a long time ago, I am a civilian and have participated in elections.”
Shah was among four members of the civilian-military establishment named by Bhutto in a letter written to then president Pervez Musharraf months before her assassination as suspects who should be investigated if she was killed.
Many Pakistanis have long suspected that elements of the intelligence agencies colluded with militants in Bhutto’s assassination in Rawalpindi in December 2007. An investigation at the time blamed an Al Qaeda-allied Taleban leader.
“Are you trying to send a message to the world that we have terrorists and the abettors of terrorists in our cabinet?” Bhutto’s son and chairman of the PPP, Bilawal Bhutto,
Are you trying to send a message to the world that we have terrorists and the abettors of terrorists in our cabinet? This cannot happen
Bilawal Bhutto, PPP chairman
told parliament this week, referring to Shah’s appointment. “This cannot happen.”
Earlier this month then information minister Fawad Chaudhry told
“he is a clean man” and had been cleared of all allegations against him in a government inquiry.
The sweeping cabinet reshuffle comes as Pakistan is trying to attract foreign investment and present itself as a reformed country. But critics say the inclusion of an “old school” figure such as Shah in the government
The biggest controversy is his links with the Afghan jihad and figures like Omar Saeed Sheikh. Looks very much like the army chief’s choice
Ayesha Siddiqa, Author and analyst
shows little has changed. Under Musharraf, Shah served as head of the military’s spy agency in Punjab, and was later appointed the head of the civilian Intelligence Bureau.
He oversaw the surrender of wanted militant Omar Saeed Shaikh, who masterminded the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl in 2002. That contributed to allegations he had been close to militant groups based along border with Afghanistan.
“The biggest controversy is his links with the Afghan jihad and figures like Omar Saeed Sheikh,” said author and analyst Ayesha Siddiqa, a longstanding critic of Pakistan’s military. “Looks very much like the army chief ’s choice.”
Islamabad has been trying to convince the outside world that it will not tolerate militants operating from inside Pakistan.
Pakistan currently finds itself on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) “grey list” for inadequately dealing with money laundering and terrorism financing, a designation that makes it harder for the country to access international markets at a time when its economy is stumbling.
Convincing the FATF that it is making sufficient efforts to crack down on militancy will be harder with a controversial figure such as Shah in the cabinet, said PPP Senator Mustafa Khokhar.