Ex-ISPR chief Asim Bajwa replaces Firdous as PM’s special assistant, new info minister also appointed

Former Inter-Services Public Relation (ISPR) director-general (DG) and military bigwig Lieutenant General (r) Asim Bajwa has replaced Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan as Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s special assistant on information and broadcasting, while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Shibli Faraz has been handed reins of the Information Ministry.

According to the details, while Firdous has been removed from her position, Faraz has been appointed as the federal information minister — a post that had lied vacant ever since the premier removed incumbent Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry last year.

Faraz is an investment banker by profession and was a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) pilot and then a civil servant. He contested the election for the Kohat district mayor in 2002 and his uncle Barrister Syed Masood Kausar is a former governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). He is the son of the late poet Ahmad Faraz.

Firdous’s successor, Bajwa, on the other hand, is currently also serving as the chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority.

During his military career, Bajwa has served on multiple instructional and command-level posts, such as leading the 111th Infantry Brigade. Besides serving as a brigade major at an infantry brigade and serving as the chief of staff at a strike corps, Bajwa has also instructed courses at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) Kakul and the Command and Staff College in Quetta.

He has also served as the deputy military secretary to the president of Pakistan.

In December 2010, he was promoted to the rank of a major general and in June 2012, as the ISPR chief — preceding former military spokesperson Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor.

In September 2015, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, appointed inspector general (arms) at General Headquarters (GHQ) in December 2016 and later Southern Command commander.