Firdous Ashiq Awan, Ghulam Sarwar Khan engage in war of words

ISLAMABAD: The recent major reshuffle in Prime Minister Imran Khan’s federal cabinet triggered a war of words among ministers, and the latest such exchange was witnessed between Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan and  Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan.

Taking aim at Ghulam Sarwar, who was removed from his post as the federal minister for petroleum and assigned the aviation ministry instead, Firdous criticised his role in the petroleum ministry.

"The petroleum ministry was looted, that’s why the minister was changed," she was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Reacting to her comments, Ghulam Sarwar termed the statement as "irresponsible."

The federal cabinet last week underwent a major reshuffle with the resignation of Asad Umar as finance minister and appointment of Hafeez Shaikh as Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance.

Minister of Petroleum Ghulam Sarwar was assigned the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Minister of State for Interior Shaheryar Afridi was made Minister of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON).

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry was assigned the Science and Technology ministry, whereas Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan was named Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting.