Shibli Faraz becomes information minister, Asim Bajwa replaces Firdous Awan

Shibli Faraz becomes information minister, Asim Bajwa replaces Firdous Awan

Islamabad (Web Desk): Prime Minister Imran Khan has appointed Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Senator Shibli Faraz as Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting.

Faraz — who was appointed as the leader of the house in Senate in August 2018 — was elected to the upper house in March 2015 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He is the son of acclaimed (late) poet Ahmed Faraz.

Faraz, a former banker, is chairman of the Senate’s standing committee on commerce and special committee on circular debt. He is also a member of the committee on planning and development and reforms, water resources, statistics, and climate change and a member of the parliamentary committee on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

He did a Master’s in International Relations from the University de Los Andes (Colombia) in 1994.

Meanwhile, Lt Gen (retired) Asim Saleem Bajwa has been appointed as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on information, a title previously held by Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan.

"The prime minister ... has been pleased to appoint Lt Gen (Rtd) Asim Saleem Bajwa as special assistant to the prime minister on information and broadcasting, in [an] honorary capacity, with immediate effect," a notification issued by the Cabinet Division said.

A second notification read: "The prime minister has been pleased to remove Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan from the office of special assistant to the prime minister on information and broadcasting, with immediate effect."