New AJK premier

New AJK premier – Chaudhry Anwarul Haq became the 15th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir after contesting this position as an independent candidate. Anwarul Haq who was the Legislative Assembly’s speaker since August 2021 was elected unopposed as leader of the house in the pre-dawn election after forming a 12-member forward bloc in the PTI and forging an alliance with the 19-member combined opposition, comprising PPP and PMLN lawmakers. When polling was held, all 48 members, present in the house, voted for him. Though earlier reports suggested that he had secured 31 votes, but this information was later revised when it emerged that all present in the house had voted for him. Interestingly, two legislators from PTI and one each from the two opposition parties did not show up. Anwarul Haq, 53, made it clear that he had contested the prime minister’s election as an independent candidate with the support of the combined opposition, who he referred to as PDM, and thanked the PTI lawmakers who voted for him. He comes from a well-known political family of Bhimber district, regretted that while New AJK premier possessed complete infrastructure of a full-fledged state it was not being used for the service of common people. TW