Role of Defence Secretary: Prime Minister Secretariat begins consultations

The Prime Minister Secretariat has initiated consultations with Establishment Division about disciplinary action against Defence Secretary Lt-Gen Khalid Naeem Lodhi (retd), a contractual employee, sources said.
They said that Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Khushnood Lashari held a meeting with Establishment Division Secretary on Tuesday and discussed various aspects of the case in the light of the government's decision to issue show-cause notice to the Defence Secretary. The decision of serving show-cause notice to the Secretary was taken during a meeting at the Presidency on Friday.
It has been reported that a top official of the federal government on December 23 disowned a controversial rejoinder filed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) submitted to the Supreme Court in late hours of December 22. However, the contents of rejoinder submitted on behalf of the secretary of the MoD claimed that the army and the ISI were not under its control.
The Defence Secretary's contract may be revoked if the government is not satisfied with his reply to the show-cause notice. Sources in the Ministry of Defence claimed that the post of Defence Secretary is traditionally filled with the consent of Chief of Army Staff. The predecessors of the incumbent Defence Secretary were all ex army generals and did not belong to regular occupational service group.
The controversy between military and civilian leadership of the country was triggered due to a sequence of press releases issued by the ISPR.
The differences recently prompted Prime Minister Gilani to claim that 'conspirators' were out to bring down his government, in an unusually harsh tirade against the army. However, General Kayani brushed aside the rumours of a take-over, describing such allegations as an attempt to divert focus from the 'real issues'. In the face of strained civil-military relations, at a recent gathering of the ruling Pakistan People's Party, some members demanded of the government to let the heads of the army and ISI chiefs roll. Qamar Zaman Kaira admitted that certain members did raise this issue in the ruling party's parliamentary committee meeting, but he emphasised that these views did not represent the government's stance.