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Wednesday July 23, 2025

New AJK set up: All prime ministerial hopefuls get a slice of the cake

By Tariq Butt
August 15, 2021
New AJK set up: All prime ministerial hopefuls get a slice of the cake

ISLAMABAD: By inducting all the four main contenders for the office of the Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) prime minister in key government positions, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has tried to surmount a simmering row in the AJK party.

Veteran Kashmiri politician Barrister Sultan Mahmood’s willingness to accept the merely ceremonial post of the AJK president has defused the dispute and seemingly alleviated his disappointment over not being given the prime ministerial slot – perhaps only for the time being. He heads the PTI chapter in AJK a slot that he is likely to vacate after his smooth election as the president on Aug 17.

Those close to him told The News that Sultan Mahmood was frustrated after he was ignored in the selection of the AJK prime minister and had kept a low profile after his oath-taking as member of the AJK Legislative Assembly (AJKLA) and left Muzaffarabad for his native town of Mirpur.

He was certain that because of the work he had done as the chief of the PTI’s AJK branch, he would be the automatic choice for the next premier. He had played a key role in choosing suitable PTI candidates for the recent elections who also had personal clout in their respective constituencies. He had helped to field a cluster of electables and delivered a party victory.

Sultan Mahmood, who had been elected to the AJKLA seven times in his long political career, had in 2015 joined the PTI after leaving the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) that had once made him the prime minister. He had faced defeat in his traditional Mirpur constituency at the hands of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) cardholder Chaudhry Saeed, who was later disqualified after which Sultan Mahmood had won the by-election.

As per the understanding, his son would now be awarded the PTI ticket for the seat to be vacated by him to contest the by-election. Among others, Chaudhry Saeed is likely to challenge him.

Sultan Mahmood expects to have a say in the selection of the new cabinet and has already recommended more than half a dozen elected members. However, it is an open question whether or not his recommendations will be implemented.

Billionaire Sardar Tanveer Ilyas was another leading aspirant for the berth of the AJK prime minister. After he was overlooked for the top executive office, he has displayed his contentment after getting the senior minister’s slot in the new AJK cabinet.

It was widely believed that Tanveer Ilyas had only jumped into the election scramble for the first time because he was eying the position of the prime minister. Taking a dig at his main challenger, he stated after the nomination of the prime minister that Sultan Mahmood is damaging the PTI. When he contested the AJK polls from Bagh, he was serving as the advisor to the Punjab chief minister on investment for quite some time.

Overlooking the principal contenders, Prime Minister Imran Khan had nominated a dark horse, Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi as the premier, surprising all and sundry. Hardly anyone even in the PTI had imagined that Niazi would be the man to become their prime minister.

The two other aspirants -- Khawaja Farooq and Chaudhry Azhar Sadiq -- who had also been interviewed by Imran Khan, are also being inducted in the new cabinet. In this way, one prestigious office or the other has been given to all the four prime ministerial hopefuls. Thus, the PTI has endeavoured to calm the seething situation within its rank and file. It will be an uphill task for the new premier to take his parliamentary party along with him and keep them in good humour when these heavyweights will be present in his cabinet breathing down his neck.