PTI, joint opposition candidates vying for AJK assembly speaker, deputy slots

Muzaffarabad: The election for speaker and deputy speaker of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly will be held today with candidates from Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and joint opposition parties vying for the slots, ARY NEWS reported on Tuesday.

The election for speaker and deputy speaker would be held through secret balloting and before that Speaker AJK Assembly Shah Ghulam Qadir would administer the oath to the newly elected members.

PTI has nominated Anwar ul Haq for speaker’s slot while Chaudhry Riaz Gujjar will contest for the deputy speaker. On the other hand, the opposition has fielded Faisal Rathore for the speaker and Nisaran Abbasi for deputy speaker slots.

It is pertinent to mention here that PTI bagged three more seats in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly Monday after its candidates secured the win on reserved seats for ulema, overseas Kashmiri, and technocrat, bringing their total strength in assembly to 32.

PTI also clinched three seats reserved for women in the Legislative Assembly of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) after all five candidates were elected unopposed.

Out of five seats reserved for women, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was able to secure three seats while Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) bagged one seat each.

The unofficial results of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, other than the reserved seats, showed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) bagging victory on 26 seats, securing a simple majority needed to form government in the region.

According to unofficial results, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) remained the biggest opposition group after it secured 11 seats, followed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) that was able to win six seats and Muslim Conference bagging one seat.

The contest between the political parties was for 45 seats of the Legislative Assembly of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).