PTI’s Abdul Qayyum Niazi elected new Prime Minister of AJK

ISLAMABAD, AUG 4: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Abdul Qayyum Niazi was on Wednesday elected the 13th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

He received 33 votes in the newly formed Legislative Assembly of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, whereas joint opposition’s candidate Chaudhry Latif Akbar garnered 15 votes.

Niazi succeeds PML-N’s Raja Farooq Haider, whose tenure in the AJK PM’s office had ended on July 30.

Earlier in the day, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry announced that Prime Minister Imran Khan had nominated Niazi as the ruling party’s candidate for the position. In a tweet, the minister said that PM Imran had made the decision after extensive consultations and reviewing all the proposals. “He is a dynamic and genuine political activist and his heart beats for the people,” he said.

Azhar Mashwani, Punjab chief minister’s focal person for digital media, added that Niazi was a member of the AJK Legislative Assembly from border area Abbaspur Poonch.

“He is also the central joint secretary of the PTI,” he said.

Imran Khan had on Friday and Saturday interviewed no less than seven candidates for the position of AJK premier. The prime minister had put various questions to them, relating to their future strategy and views on environment, tourism and national and international issues.

According to a source, PM Imran had expressed displeasure over the fact that he was being contacted by different quarters that were exerting pressure to select particular candidates.

Niazi — who won the recent AJK polls from the LA-18 constituency — was not among the leading candidates for the position initially.

PTI clinches most seats to form next govt

According to the official results of the July 25 polls, the PTI clinched 26 general seats of the AJK Legislative Assembly, followed by 11 by the PPP, six by PML-N and one each by state-based AJK Muslim Conference (AJKMC) and Jammu Kashmir Peoples Party (JKPP).

Three more PTI candidates were elected unopposed on Sunday against five seats reserved for women, in addition to one each from the PPP and the PML-N.

On Monday, the ruling had secured another three reserved seats, raising its strength to 32 in the 53-member house. Following the PTI’s victory, PM Imran had congratulated the successful candidates and thanked the people of AJK for placing their trust in the PTI, which resulted in the PTI’s electoral victory.

“I will focus on bringing the people out of poverty through our Ehsaas and Kamyab Pakistan programmes; and establish accountability and transparency in government,” he had said.

“As an ambassador for Kashmir, I will continue to raise my voice on all international forums including the United Nations to ensure the international community fulfills its commitment of self-determination to the Kashmiri people through a UN-sponsored plebiscite,” he had vowed.

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