Khawaja Farooq Ahmed appointed as AJK’s Acting Prime Minister

MUZAFFARABAD, April 12 (SABAH): Khawaja Farooq Ahmed was appointed as acting prime minister of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir after Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan was disqualified by the Azad Jammua and Kashmir High Court in a contempt case.

Notification has been issued on the directions of AJK President Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry. He has signed a summary of entrusting powers of the leader of the house to new prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

According to the notification, Khawaja Farooq Ahmad will serve as acting Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir until a new Leader of the House is appointed.

Khawaja Farooq is a seasoned politician who has been involved in politics for over three decades. He rose to prominence after defeating his opponent in the election, former AJK Prime Minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan Niazi.

According to the Constitution, new appointment of prime minister must be done within maximum 14 days.

AJK High Court disqualified Prime Minister Tanvir Ilyas Khan from his position as a member of the legislative assembly and as premier on contempt charges. However, he appeared before the court and presented his apology but the court rejected it.

Sardar Tanvir Ilyas was elected unopposed as the 14th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) during April 2022 while presenting no-confidence motion against PTI’S  AJK premier, Abdul Qayyum Khan Niazi.

Illyas had submitted nomination papers on behalf of PTI which were declared valid by the secretary assembly.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan nominated Ilyas as the party’s candidate for prime minister’s office while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) jointly fielded Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin.