Asim Bajwa steps down as SAPM on information

Islamabad: Lieutenant General (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa has resigned from the additional charge of the special assistant to the prime minister on information and broadcasting.

He confirmed on Twitter that his request has been approved by Prime Minister Imran Khan. He, however, is still the chairperson of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority.

Bajwa had previously said that he would resign from the SAPM post. I wish to pay my full attention to CPEC projects, Bajwa said. CPEC projects are the future of Pakistan.

On August 27, a website known as Fact Focus published a story, claiming that Lt Gen (r) Bajwa’s family has set up 99 companies in four countries, including a pizza franchise with 133 restaurants. The website further claimed that Lt Gen (r) Bajwa’s wife is a “shareholder” in at least 86 companies. Of them, 71 were set up in the US, seven in the UAE and four in Canada.

Bajwa has rejected the story on his family’s assets as “incorrect” and “false”. In his statement shared on Twitter, Bajwa said all the adverse insinuations levelled in the news item were “materially false”.

The former military official had replaced Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan as PM Khan as special assistant on April 27, 2020.

He remained the director general of the ISPR from 2012 to 2016 and served as the commander of Pakistan Army’s southern command before his retirement.