MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) regional president Sardar Tanveer Ilyas was sworn in as the 14th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) here on Monday hours after he was elected to the office by a clear majority of the Legislative Assembly.

The oath was administered to him by AJK president Barrister Sultan Mahmood at a ceremony in the President’s House.

Earlier, Mr Ilyas bagged 33 votes in the 53-member house in an election boycotted by the 19-member opposition, comprising Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

The election apparently brought to an end the nerve-racking wheeling and dealing in the territory that started when 25 PTI lawmakers moved a resolution for a vote of no confidence against the outgoing prime minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi, who too belongs to the PTI, on April 12.

PTI’s leader bags 33 votes in 53-member house in an election boycotted by opposition

The step was taken with the approval of PTI chairman Imran Khan allegedly after growing discontent with Mr Niazi’s policies and way of governance.

Mr Niazi had resigned a day before the voting on the motion slated for Friday, and the treasury members’ attempt to hold the election to fill the office in the same session was stalled by the opposition after it filed a petition in the high court.

An appeal against the high court’s restraint order was heard by the Supreme Court on Saturday which had directed the law secretary and the principal secretary to the PM to enable the president to convene the session under Article 16(3) of Constitution.

Earlier in the morning, the opposition, which had declared PPP regional president Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin as its candidate for the election, announced boycott of the election process, terming the session “unconstitutional”.

However, their objections regarding the session were dismissed by the speaker, saying they should not expect any extra-constitutional step from him.

The speaker did allow opposition leaders to vent their feelings on points of order, but in the meanwhile also let MLA Abdul Majid Khan table a resolution aimed at suspending the rule that stipulates a process of two days for the prime ministerial election.

As the majority approved the resolution and subsequently the speaker ordered the assembly staff to prepare and paste the schedule for the election, the opposition staged a walkout saying it would not participate in the process.

After completion of the election, the speaker announced that Mr Ilyas had secured 33 votes — 32 from the PTI’s parliamentary party and one from its ally Sardar Attique Ahmed.

Many lawmakers extended their felicitations to Mr Ilyas and assured him of their cooperation in running the government. Mr Niazi also seized the opportunity to denounce allegations against him in the no-trust resolution and despite speaker’s reminders about time constraints went on to list his “achievements” over the past eight months amid visible discontent in the treasury benches.

He, however, left the hall when the PM-elect was delivering his speech.

Mr Ilyas, primarily a business tycoon, bri­efly spelt out his plans to tap AJK’s rich potential in different sectors for the territory’s socio-economic uplift and subsequent am­e­li­oration of the living conditions of the people, including the post-1989 Kashmiri migrants.

In this regard, he said, he would give a 90-day target to cabinet members and secretaries. “We have to work hard to realise dreams of our people and bring about a welcome change in AJK.”

Mr Ilyas said Narendra Modi and the Indian establishment could not deprive the Kashmiris of their right to decide their future status through a free and fair plebiscite.

Paying tribute to the armed forces, he asked the PTI workers not to become part of any negative campaign against the army.

“Our enemy wants to pit us against our army and we have to frustrate its evil designs,” he said.

Two-member cabinet sworn in

Soon after his swearing-in, the premier inducted Khawaja Farooq Ahmed from Muzaffarabad division and Chaudhry Akhlaq from Mirpur division into his cabinet. They were administered oath by the president at the same ceremony. Their portfolios were not announced immediately.

PM Ilyas himself comes from Poonch division.

Interestingly, both the president and the speaker also come from Mirpur division.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2022