PPP's Yasin named AJK opposition leader

MUZAFFARABAD:

Pakistan Peoples Party PPP leader Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin has been appointed Leader of the Opposition in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, completing the parliamentary set-up of the newly elected house.

AJK Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Tariq Farooq issued a formal notification confirming Yasin's appointment.

Yasin will now lead the opposition benches and represent the opposition in the assembly, where he is expected to play a key parliamentary role in scrutinising the newly formed government.

Yaseen previously served as Leader of the Opposition in the AJK Legislative Assembly from 2016 to 2021.

A veteran politician, Yasin has remained active in practical politics for more than three decades and is considered one of the senior PPP figures in AJK.

The development comes after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Iftikhar Gilani was elected prime minister of AJK. With the appointment of Yasin as opposition leader, both the treasury and opposition benches have now assumed their formal parliamentary positions in the 46-member AJK Assembly. Elections for the remaining seven seats of the Poonch Division will be held next month.