Abdul Qayyum Niazi elected as Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi was on Wednesday elected as the new prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Abdul Qayyum Niazi secured the prime ministership by a comfortable margin, bagging 33 votes.  PPP and PML-N’s joint candidate, Chaudhry Lateef Akbar managed to win only 15 votes.  Niazi is the 13th prime minister of Azad Kashmir and will take over the reins of the territory from Raja Farooq Haider. 

Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan had approved the name of a unanimous candidate for the post of Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir 

Chairman PTI has said that the new Azad Kashmir prime minister will be Abdul Qayyum Niazi. According to details, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has nominated Abdul Qayyum Niazi as its prime ministerial candidate.

Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry had stated that the prime minister made the decision after “considerable consultations and suggestions” adding that Niazi is a “vibrant, genuine political worker whose heart beats with the party’s political workers.”

Abdul Qayyum Niazi won the AJK polls from the LA-18 Poonch constituency of the Legislative Assembly. He defeated PML-N’s Muhammad Yasin by more than 8,000 votes.

He was not among the leading candidates for the coveted post. Initially, Barristers Sultan Mahmood and Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan were being considered as the AJK PM. The PTI had emerged victorious after the recently-held Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections. 

PPP leader Chaudhry Latif Akbar was nominated as the new Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir by the United Opposition. 

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Earlier, Abdul Qayyum Niazi left the Muslim Conference, the main political party in Azad Kashmir, and joined the PTI. During the Muslim Conference, Abdul Qayyum Niazi was also elected Minister of Azad Kashmir and served.

It may be recalled that the Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir will be elected today before which there will be an election to elect the Leader of the House whose names of nominees have come to light.

The Election Commission has released the schedule for the election of the Leader of the House. The process of submitting nomination papers has started from 9 am today and will continue till 11 am.