Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today put a vocal woman lawmaker as incharge of the ministry of information after information minister Pevaiz Rashid was sacked for failing to stop a media report on a rift between the government and the powerful army.
Maryam Aurangzeb was appointed as Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, which is a rank lower to a full minister.
Apparently, Sharif instead of appointing a full minister decided to reduce the influence of this important ministry by placing a junior minister as its head.
Rashid was on Saturday asked to step down due to controversy over a report published in leading Dawn newspaper earlier this month about a rift between the civilian and military leaderships on support to militancy as he was suspected of leaking the report about a meeting.
However, the government said that he was removed for failing to stop the publishing of the report.
Aurangzeb was elected on a reserved seat for women in the 2013 general elections and is considered close to Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz. She is also the parliamentary secretary for interior.
She belongs to an influential family and her mother, Tahira Aurangzeb, is also a member of parliament.
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