Abdul Qayyum Niazi elected as AJK prime minister

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) Abdul Qayyum Niazi was elected on Wednesday as the 13th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Niazi secured 33 votes in the AJK Legislative Assembly, whereas joint opposition's candidate Chaudhry Latif Akbar received 15 votes, Radio Pakistan reported.

Niazi succeeds Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)'s Raja Farooq Haider.

Earlier, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad had announced on Twitter that Prime Minister Imran Khan nominated Niazi after extensive consultation and reviewing all suggestions.

"He is a dynamic and genuine political activist and his heart beats for the people," the information minister tweeted.

Punjab chief minister's focal person for digital media Azhar Mashwani said that Niazi is the central joint secretary of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and was also a member of the AJK Legislative Assembly from border area Abbaspur Poonch.

Newly-elected AJK legislative assembly members take oath

The PM had been interviewing candidates for the slot of AJK prime minister after the PTI won majority seats in the recent elections.

On Monday, the PTI clinched three more reserved seats of the AJK assembly, increasing its strength to 32 in the 53-member house.

After the official results were announced on July 26, the PM expressed his gratitude to the voters and congratulated all successful candidates of the party.

PM Imran vowed that PTI will focus on bringing the people of AJK out of poverty through his government’s flagship programmes Ehsaas and Kamayab Naujawan Programme.

"As ambassador for Kashmir, I will continue to raise my voice on all international forums including the United Nations to ensure the international community fulfilled its commitment of self-determination to the Kashmiri people through a UN-sponsored plebiscite,” the PM said.