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

• Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi bags 33 votes to get elected as Azad Jammu and Kashmir's new prime minister.  
• PPP, PML-N field joint candidate Chaudhry Lateef Akbar. 
• Akbar secures only 15 votes. 

ISLAMABAD: PTI candidate Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi on Wednesday got elected as the new prime minister of Azad Kashmir by a comfortable margin.

President Azad Jammu and Kashmir 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.

Niazi secured the premiership by a comfortable margin, bagging 33 votes.

PPP and PML-N's joint candidate, Chaudhry Lateef Akbar, managed to win only 15 votes.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Imran Khan had nominated Niazi as the PTI's candidate for the post.

Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry stated that the prime minister made the decision after "considerable consultations and suggestions".

"He [Niazi] is a vibrant, genuine political worker whose heart beats with the party's political workers," Chaudhry had tweeted.

Read: How Abdul Qayyum Niazi got the PM's nod for AJK's top slot

Niazi won the AJK polls from the LA-18 constituency. He was not among the leading candidates for the prized post. Initially, Barristers Sultan Mahmood and Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan were being considered as the AJK PM.

The PTI emerged victorious after the recently-held Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections, bagging a total of 32 seats in the assembly.