ISLAMABAD: After being invited to join Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), former Chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Faiz Hamid (retd) has said that he will never join politics.
Talking to The News, the former Spymaster said that all speculations about him joining politics or becoming part of PTI were totally false. “I will not join politics after two-year bar nor afterwards.”
Thursday, a video had gone viral where the former three-star officer of the Pakistan Army was invited by the local PTI leadership in Chakwal to join the Imran Khan-led party.
The video showed Hamid attending a gathering in his native village in Chakwal. In it, an unidentified person, addressing the gathering, praised the former spy chief for his services in the military and the development of the area.
The speaker urged the retired lieutenant general to join politics and play his role in the development of the country. The speaker thanked him for his active involvement in development works worth millions of rupees in their area during his years in service.
Lt Gen. Faiz (retd) had retired from service after General Asim Munir took command of the Pakistan Army as the chief of army staff. The former DG ISI had requested early retirement after the prime minister had approved Gen Asim Munir and Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza’s elevation to the four-star rank.
His application for early retirement was approved on December 2 after the Defence Ministry forwarded his request to the premier. Faiz was promoted to the three-star rank in April 2019 and was appointed as the adjutant general at the General Headquarters (GHQ). Before his elevation, he was serving as the head of the Counter Intelligence Wing of the ISI.
In June of the same year, Lt Gen (retd) Faiz was posted as the director general of ISI, replacing Gen Asim Munir, the incumbent chief of army staff. In October 2021, Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed Anjum was appointed as the ISI chief while Hamid was transferred as the Peshawar corps commander.
But the appointment became a serious controversy when the then prime minister Imran Khan declined to relieve Hamid from the post. However, he later agreed to it. In August of this year, Lt Gen (retd) Faiz was transferred and appointed Bahawalpur corps commander, a post he held till his retirement.
The former army officer was targeted by Imran Khan’s political opponents, particularly the PML-N, for his interference in political matters. One of the reasons behind the PDM’s no-confidence motion against Imran Khan, political observers believe, was their fear that if Khan remains prime minister, then he would appoint Lt Gen (retd) Faiz as the army chief and would then fix the opposition to prolong his rule by manipulating the 2023 general elections.
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