27 ministers of AJK cabinet take oath

The ministers of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) cabinet have taken oath which was administered by the AJK President Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry, ARY News reported on Sunday.

The oath-taking ceremony was also attended by AJK PM Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, Chaudhry Latif Akbar and others.

The new ministers who took oath today included 16 members of the AJK Legislative Assembly from like-minded group, 8 from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and three from Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N).

The oath was taken by Sardar Hussain Khan, Amir Abdul Ghaffar Lone, Mir Akbar Khan, Deewan Ali Chughtai, Abdul Waheed, Chaudhry Arshad Hussain, Muhammad Ahmed Raza Qadri, Chaudhry Muhammad Rasheed, Abdul Majid Khan, Raja Muhammad Siddique, Chaudhry Muhammad Akbar Ibrahim, Javed Iqbal Budhanavi, Bazil Naqvi, Sardar Javed Ayub, Amir Altaf, Azhar Sadiq, Nisar Ansar, Chaudhry Akhlaq, Akmal Sargala, Zafar Iqbal Malik, Faheem Akhtar, Chaudhry Yasir Sultan, Javed Butt, Asim Sharif, Chaudhry Amir Yaseen, Qasim Majeed and Ziaul Qamar.

In April, Chaudhry Anwarul Haq had taken oath as the 15th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). President Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry had administered the oath to the newly-elected prime minister.

Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq had been elected as the 15th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) by securing 48 votes.

The development took place after the disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Sardar Tanveer Ilyas by the AJK High Court in a contempt case.

The AJK High Court had declared Ilyas ineligible for holding any public office and asked AJK’s Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Abdul Rasheed Sulehria to hold polls for his successor as prime minister. The court’s decision came after Ilyas was summoned to AJK’s supreme court and high court for using a “threatening tone” in one of his speeches.

AJK President Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry created a forward bloc in the assembly, rebelling against his own party.