Muzaffarabad (Web Desk): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Abdul Qayyum Niazi was elected as new Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Wednesday.
According to details, Niazi secured the slot of premiership by a comfortable margin bagging 33 votes whereas joint opposition's candidate Chaudhry Latif Akbar received 15 votes.
Abdul Qayyum Niazi succeeds Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's (PML-N) Raja Farooq Haider, whose tenure in the AJK PM's office had ended on July 30.
Abdul Qayyum Niazi was elected from LA-18 Abbaspur.
AJK Legislative Assembly met today under the supervision of Speaker Anwar-ul-Haq to elect the PM. During the session, the newly-elected members of the assembly used their voting right to finalize the premier.
Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan nominated Abdul Qayyum Niazi as PTI's candidate for the slot.
This was confirmed by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry in a tweet.
“The name was finalised after detailed consultations and keeping in view the proposals,” the minister said.
Fawad Chaudhry said that Abdul Qayyum Niazi is a genuine and vibrant political worker, whose heart beats with workers.
On Tuesday, PTI's nominees Anwar-ul-Haq and Riaz Gujjar were elected as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the AJK Legislative Assembly.
During the session, Anwar-ul-Haq grabbed 32 votes and defeated opposition parties’ Faisal Rathore on speaker position. PTI’s Chaudhry Riaz Gujjar got 32 votes for deputy speaker post while Nisara Abbasi of PML-N got 15 votes.
Outgoing speaker Shah Ghulam Qadir administered the oath to the newly-elected members of the assembly.
It is pertinent to mention that the PTI emerged as the largest political party in the AJK Legislative Assembly elections held on July 25.
The PTI won 25 seats and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) got 11 seats while PML-N secured six seats.
Muslim Conference and Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Party (JKPP) have secured one seat each.