PTI's Sardar Tanveer Ilyas elected as new AJK premier

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf's (PTI's) Sardar Tanvir Ilyas was elected unopposed as the 14th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Monday.

After the resignation of Abdul Qayyum Khan Niazi as AJK premier, a meeting was held to elect a new Leader of the House. Illyas had submitted nomination papers on behalf of PTI which were declared valid by the secretary assembly.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan nominated Ilyas as the party’s candidate for prime minister’s office while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) jointly fielded Chaudhry Yasin.

The united opposition boycotted the session for the election of the prime minister, leaving no candidate in the race against Ilyas wherein he secured 33 votes in his favour.

Read: AJK premier resigns before no-trust vote

The election of the AJK PM was out under Article 13 of the Constitution and Rule 15 of the legislative assembly. The PTI was leading in the House with 32 members and had the support of the Muslim Conference.

The first prime minister of AJK, Khan Abdul Hameed Khan, was elected on July 5, 1975. AJK has had a parliamentary system since 1985. Sardar Sikandar Hayat, Sardar Atiq Ahmad Khan and Raja Farooq Haider Khan had twice held the office of AJK PM.