ISLAMABAD: Weeks after a controversy erupted between two cabinet members over the slot of minister for information, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday reposed full confidence in Fawad Chaudhry.

According to a statement issued by the PM Secretariat, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry called on the prime minister in the latter’s office and briefed him on the matters pertaining to his ministry and the reforms being carried out in the state-run Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation and Pakistan Television Corporation to make them more efficient and effective.

Reposing full confidence in Mr Chaudhry, the prime minister said the information ministry should play a leading role in all matters related to the media. He said the government would provide every possible support and resources to the ministry for projecting the country’s image abroad and highlighting the government’s agenda of reforms and change before the public.

Getting a note of confidence from the prime minister seems important for Fawad Chaudhry after the Dec 8 leaked video of Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed who was overheard claiming that PM Khan had offered him to become information minister.

Mr Rashid’s ‘controversial’ comments were aired by a section of private TV channels. Seemingly unconscious of an open mic and talking to a person before the start of a press conference in Lahore, the railways minister claimed that the prime minister had called him four times to deliberate on the matter.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2018