PM appoints Maryam Aurangzeb as minister of state for information

Development comes two days after Pervaiz Rashid was removed from his post

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has appointed Maryam Aurengzeb as the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, two days after Senator Pervaiz Rashid was removed from his post.

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has decided to appoint Maryam Aurengzeb as new info minister (Min of State).

— PMLN (@pmln_org) October 31, 2016

Aurangzeb is a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker from Punjab, and occupies a reserved seat for women in the National Assembly.

Buckling under relentless pressure, the government on Saturday sent its information minister packing after preliminary investigations established a ‘lapse’ on his part vis-à-vis a ‘planted news story’ about a top level huddle on national security.

Congratulations to the new MOS MOIB Maryam Aurengzeb,one of our most dynamic &diligent team members. May The Almighty bless you with success

— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) October 31, 2016

Rashid’s sacking came barely 48 hours after an unusual meeting of senior government functionaries with army chief General Raheel Sharif at the Army House.



The Dawn‘s staffer’s story, “Act against militants or face international isolation, civilians tell military” described what transpired in a high-level meeting in which the civil leadership allegedly criticised the military’s policies on militancy.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar ali Khan said on Sunday a high-powered committee will probe ‘Dawn leaks’ and those responsible will be exposed.



“It will be a full-fledged (investigation) committee as it is a huge task that intelligence agencies alone cannot do,” he said. “Tomorrow names for the committee will be decided in a meeting with the Prime Minister and this task will be completed as soon as possible.”

The leak was false news which “has compromised our national narrative (against terrorism)”, added Nisar.