PTI's Abdul Qayyum Niazi becomes new AJK prime minister

ISLAMABAD: In another major achievement for the ruling party, PTI candidate Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi has been elected as the new prime minister of Azad Kashmir on Wednesday.

According to the details, Abdul Qayyum Niazi bagged 33 votes in the newly formed Legislative Assembly of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and secured the top slot.

However, PPP and PML-N's joint candidate, Chaudhry Lateef Akbar managed to win just 15 votes.

Niazi is the 13th prime minister of Azad Kashmir and will take over the reins of the territory from PML-N's Raja Farooq Haider.

It is pertinent to mention here that   Prime Minister Imran Khan had nominated Abdul Qayyum Niazi as the PTI's candidate for the post of AJK prime minister earlier today. 

Giving detail, Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry had stated that the prime minister made the decision after "considerable consultations and suggestions".

"He [Niazi] is a vibrant, genuine political worker whose heart beats with the party's political workers," Chaudhry had tweeted. 

 Niazi had won the AJK polls from the LA-18 constituency. He was not among the leading candidates for the prized post. Initially, Barristers Sultan Mahmood and Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan were being considered as the AJK PM.