The son of newly-elected Azad Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi is Labour Party’s councillor for the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, it emerged on Wednesday.
Zarar Qayyum had won the seat from the ward of West End by defeating his Tory rival.
Zafar was present in Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly when his father took oath as the 13th prime minister of the territory.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had picked the name of Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi’s name after detailed deliberation.
In London, Zarar has been raising voice for equality, human rights, and free meals. Besides holding a seat in London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s Employment and Skills Committee, he also runs a consultancy firm, local media reported.
Earlier in the day, Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been elected as the AJK Prime Minister.
Niazi bagged 33 votes while PPP and PML-N’s joint candidate, Chaudhry Lateef Akbar managed to secure only 15 votes.
On Tuesday, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elected PTI’s candidate Chaudhry Anwarul Haq as its new Speaker.
Haq received 32 votes out of total 49 to become 11th Speaker of the AJK assembly, while Opposition’s candidate Faisal Mumtaz Rathor bagged 15 votes in the election.
Before the speaker’s election, the newly-elected members of the AJK legislative assembly took the oath of their duties.
Outgoing Speaker of the AJK assembly, Shah Ghulam Qadir, administered the oath to the new members, including six women lawmakers.
However, President Muslim Conference Atiq Ahmed Khan and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) member Javed Iqbal did not take the oath.
On Monday, the PTI won three more reserved seats of the AJK assembly, increasing its total seats to 32 in the 53-member house.
The PTI candidates picked for the reserved seats of ulema/mashaikh, technocrats and overseas Kashmiris were Muhammad Mazhar Saeed, Muhammad Rafiq Nayyer and Muhammad Iqbal, respectively.
In the general elections for 45 seats, the PPP managed to bagged won 11 seats, while the PML-N won six seats.
Read more: https://pakobserver.net/ptis-abdul-qayyum-niazi-elected-as-prime-minister-of-azad-kashmir/
