Abdul Qayyum Niazi of PTI sworn in as PoK's new prime minister

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) Abdul Qayyum Niazi was sworn in as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK's) new prime minister on Wednesday.

President of PoK Sardar Masood Khan administered the oath to him, after which he became the 13th prime minister of the region, taking over the reins from former premier Raja Farooq Haider, reported Geo News.

He bagged 33 votes to get elected as PoK's new prime minister, beating Chaudhry Lateef Akbar, the joint candidate of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) who managed to garner 15 votes.

Niazi -- who won the recent PoK polls from the LA-18 constituency -- was not among the leading candidates for the position initially.

According to Dawn, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday and Saturday interviewed no less than seven candidates for the position of PoK prime minister. Khan had put various questions to them, relating to their future strategy and views on the environment, tourism and national and international issues.

Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerged as the largest political party in the PoK Legislative Assembly following the recently held elections on July 25 in the territory.

The PTI managed to secure a total number of 32 seats (including reserved seats) while the PPP won 12 seats and the PML-N managed to secure seven seats.

PoK elections were marred with rigging, violence and murder under the watchful eye of the Pakistani military establishment itself.

The aforementioned elections have also proved to be a money-grabbing event. Prior to July 25, sector commander of PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan Brigadier Naeem Malik was caught accepting bribes from PTI candidates.

In the aftermath of the elections, protests took place in PoK. Thousands of demonstrators hit the streets in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) to protest against the Pakistan army after reports of election manipulation emerged in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir Legislative Assembly polls.

Meanwhile, India has termed elections in Pakistan occupied Kashmir as a cosmetic exercise to camouflage illegal occupation and has lodged a protest with Pakistani authorities.

India has asked Pakistan to vacate the territory illegally occupied by it.

(ANI)

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