Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has fired his special aide on I&B and replaced her with a powerful former military spokesman as he revamped his media team for the second time since coming to power amidst mounting criticism for failing to address key issues including the COVID-19 outbreak.
Former Army spokesman Lt Gen (retied) Asim Saleem Bajwa, whois also the chairman of the newly-created China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) Authority, has replaced Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan as the Special Assistantto the Prime Minister (SAPM) for information and broadcasting.
Bajwa was the director general of the Inter-Services PublicRelations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces, from 2012 to2016 when General Raheel Sharif was the Army chief, and served as the commanderof the southern command before his retirement last year.
Bajwa was credited for making Sharif a larger than lifefigure and transforming the working of the ISPR.
Prime Minister Khan also appointed Senator Shibli Faraz asthe new information minister. Faraz is the son of eminent Urdu poet late AhmadFaraz.
Minister for Science, Fawad Chaudhry, who was the firstinformation minister of Khan, made the announcement of the new appointments.
“Truly an honourable and dignified man @shiblifaraz hasbeen appointed new Information minister of Pak, and brilliant @AsimSBajwaappointed SAPM on info both ‘ll make a great team…. All the best,”Chaudhry said in a tweet.The changes were madeto blunt the perception that the media handling of the government was not goodand its work was not being properly highlighted amidst the massive healthcrisis due to the coronavirus outbreak.