Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi on Wednesday became the new Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Taking to Twitter, Abdul Qayyum Niazi thanked PM Imran Khan for nominating him as the Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir. He further promised to carry out his responsibilities to the people of Kashmir with honesty.
میں وزیراعظم عمران خان کا شکریہ ادا کرتا ہوں جنہوں نے مجھے وزیراعظم آزاد کشمیر نامزد کیا۔میں اپنے عوام اور عمران خان سے وعدہ کرتا ہوں کہ میں اپنی زمہ داریاں ایمانداری سے ادا کروں گا اور آپکے اعتماد پر پورا اترنے کی کوشش کروں گا۔#APPNews@ImranKhanPTI @QayyumNiaziPTI pic.twitter.com/OUg0px7JWN
— APP 🇵🇰 (@appcsocialmedia) August 4, 2021
He also updated his Twitter status to Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir.
Prime Minister Imran Khan recently approved Abdul Qayyum Niazi as PTI’s candidate for the new prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry first announced the news of his nomination on Wednesday through his Twitter account.
“After a long consultation and review of suggestions, the Prime Minister of Pakistan and Chairman PTI Imran Khan nominated the newly elected MLA Mr. Abdul Qayyum Niazi for the post of Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir,” he wrote.
“He is a dynamic and genuine political activist and his heart beats for the people,” he further added.
طویل مشاورت اور تجاویز کے جائزے کے بعد وزیر اعظم پاکستان و چیرمین تحریک انصاف عمران خان نے نومنتخب ایم ایل ائے جناب عبدالقیوم نیازی کو وزیر اعظم آزاد کشمیر کے عہدے کیلئے نامزد کیا ہے وہ ایک متحرک اور حقیقی سیاسی کارکن ہیں جن کا دل کارکنوں کے ساتھ دھڑکتا ہے۔
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) August 4, 2021
Before nominating Abdul Qayyum Niazi, PM Khan interviewed a total of five candidates for the post of the prime minister of AJK. The candidates included Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, Barrister Sultan Mahmood, Khawaja Farooq, Azhar Sadiq, and Abdul Qayyum Niazi.
PM Khan asked them questions about the environment, tourism, economy, national and international affairs, border issues, and future strategy.
Read more: PTI’s Gurdeep Singh becomes first Sikh to win elections in Pakistan Senate
Abdul Qayyum Niazi’s political career
Born in Dara Sher Khan in 1969, Qayyum Niazi was part of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference. He left it two years ago to join the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) two years ago.
He won the election in 2021 from Yasin Gulshan of Muslim League from constituency LA-18 Poonch-1
Abdul Qayyum Niazi also served as the Minister of Food and was a member of the district council twice.
Azhar Mashwani, Punjab’s chief minister’s focal person for digital media, confirmed that Niazi is also the central joint secretary of PTI.
Abdul Qayyum Niazi, MLA from border area Abbaspur Poonch, to be the new Prime Minister of AJK
He is also Central Joint Secretary of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf
— Azhar Mashwani (@MashwaniAzhar) August 4, 2021
Read more: AJK elections 2021: A test for the PTI government?
PTI’s success in AJK elections
PTI is making major waves in AJK. According to official results of July 25 polls, PTI won 26 general seats of the AJK Legislative Assembly. PPP won 11, and PML-N secured six.
Three more PTI candidates were elected unopposed on Sunday against five seats reserved for women, in addition to one each from the PPP and the PML-N.
On Monday, PTI secured another three reserved seats, raising its strength to 32 in the 53-member house.
Following PTI’s victory, PM Imran congratulated the successful candidates and thanked the people of AJK for placing their trust in the PTI.
Read more: Why the people of AJK put their confidence in PM Khan’s PTI