AJK president elections to take place on August 17

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Monday announced the election for AJK's president is scheduled to take place on August 17 — from 10am to 2pm.

The nomination papers will be filed on August 12 from 10am to 12pm and, on the same day, officials will scrutinise them, the election commission said in a notification.

The candidates can withdraw their nominations till August 16 (11:30am).

The polling will take place on August 17 from 10am to 2pm at the AJK Legislative Assembly Hall, the notification said.

The newly-elected president will take oath on August 24, as the outgoing President Sardar Masood Khan's tenure will end on the same day.

Last week, PTI candidate Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi got elected as the new prime minister of Azad Kashmir by a comfortable margin.

President AJK Sardar Masood Khan had administered the oath to him, after which he became the 13th prime minister of the region, taking over the reins from former premier Raja Farooq Haider.

Niazi secured the premiership by a comfortable margin, bagging 33 votes.

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

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

The PTI emerged victorious after the recently-held Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections, bagging a total of 32 seats in the assembly.