The Cabinet comprises 18 members and two advisors to Prime Minister Raja Mumtaz Rathore
The new AJK cabinet members will take oath in Muzaffarabad on Wednesday. Photo: Online
A 20-member Azad Jammu and Kashmir cabinet, including two advisors, was sworn in after being formed as per an agreement with the Awami Joint Action Committee, which mandated that the size of the cabinet should not exceed 20 members.
Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Acting President Chaudhry Latif Akbar administered oath to 18 ministers at a ceremony in Muzaffarabad on Wednesday, while Prime Minister Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore administered oath to the two advisors. A female minister was included in the new cabinet.
The swearing-in ceremony was held in the presence of former AJK President and Prime Minister Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan, former Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan, Chief Secretary, Inspector General of Police, departmental secretaries and a large number of Pakistan Peoples Party workers.
Among the ministers who took oath were Mian Abdul Waheed, Sardar Javed Ayub, Javed Iqbal Budhanvi, Chaudhry Arshad Hussain, Chaudhry Muhammad Rasheed, Ali Shan Soni, Syed Bazil Ali Naqvi, Sardar Muhammad Hussain Khan, Chaudhry Yasir Sultan, Chaudhry Ikhlaq Ahmed, Chaudhry Aamir Yasin, Sardar Ziaul Qamar, Zafar Iqbal Malik, Diwan Ali Khan Chughtai, Chaudhry Muhammad Rafiq Nair, Chaudhry Qasim Majeed, Sardar Faheem Akhtar Rabbani and Ms. Nabila Ayub.
Learn more: The affairs of the AJK action committee are settled
Prime Minister Rathore sworn in Sardar Ahmed Sagheer and Sardar Fahad Yaqoob as government advisors. During the ceremony, Secretary Office and General Administration Zafar Mehmood Khan read out the official notice of appointment.
With the swearing in of the new cabinet, the government has reached a key stage in its formation. Officials said the administration remains committed to honoring the agreement with the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) and responding to public demands in the future.
After a deadly protest that left 10 people dead in October, the government reached an agreement with the JAAC to ease tensions and address public grievances.
Under the agreement, the size of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir cabinet is to be capped at 20 members, including ministers and advisors. The pact also limits the number of administrative secretaries to no more than 20 at any time.
Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Faisal Mumtaz Rathore was on Monday elected as the 16th Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) after Chaudhry Anwarul Haq was removed through a no-confidence motion in the state Legislative Assembly.
The PPP ensured the victory of its candidate with the support of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Rathore got 36 votes in a 53-member assembly, where only 44 legislators were present.
