ISLAMABAD: Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi on Wednesday took oath as 13th prime minister of Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) here at Presidency.
Prior to his oath taking , Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf got 33 votes in one on one competition. His opponent, Chaudhary Latif Akbar of joint oppiestion, could bag only 15 votes.
Talking to media after oath taking, newly elected AJK PM vowed to take all parties of AJK assembly with him to push farward Kashmir cause.
Earlier, in a surprising move, Prime minister, Imran Khan, on Wednesday nominated Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi, as Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) prime minister.
Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi’s nomination as AJK PM has come as a big surprise for everyone having interest in the matter.
Prime minister, Imran Khan, who is known for unexpected decisions , had interviewed many aspirants of the post of AJK PM and Barrister Sultan Mahmood, Sardar Tanvir Ilyas, Khawaja Farooq and Azhar Siddiq were considered as the most serious candidates for the slot.
Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi was also among potential candidates and prime minister , Imran Khan, interviewed him too for AJK top slot. However, He was not in the limelight .
Majority of the political pundits were expecting competition between Barrister Sultan, Tanvir Ilyas and Khawaja Farooq Ahmad for AJK PM slot.
However, Wedneaday turned a lucky day for Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi.
Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi is an experienced politician of Azad Jammu Kashmir. He comes from respected religious Kashmiri family. He had won two times the elections of Azad Jammu Kashmir assembly.
Sardar Abdul Qayyum was a minister for Food in Sardar Atiq Khan’s cabinet.
His elder brother, Sarsar Ghulam Mustafa, had been member of the AJK assembly during Sardar Abdul Qayyum’s premiership.
Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi and his family had been leading figures of Muslim Conference and prior to shifting to Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) a few months ago he contested the elections of AJK assembly from Muslim Conference platform.
