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, 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.
Babar noted that the agency that "failed to detect Osama bin Laden hiding in Abbottabad" has been tasked with reporting on the competence and professionalism of civil servants. He urged everyone to say no to the decision as it was "unacceptable".
PML-N former information minister Pervaiz Rashid also questioned the move in a tweet, saying if the task of investigating civilian officers was included in ISI's responsibilities, then the spy agency should also be placed under civilian control and be accountable to the parliament.
PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar chided the premier on tasking the intelligence agency to vet government officers by "requesting" that Sharif include all public office holders in the notification at once. "Why discriminate against politicians?" Khokhar asked, adding that "after all, traitors are more common in our ranks".