MUZAFFARABAD – Dr Najeeb Naqi of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was elected president of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Thursday after securing 32 votes in the presidential election.
His rival, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Chaudhry Latif Akbar, received 13 votes.
The election was held at the AJK Legislative Assembly Secretariat in Muzaffarabad, with polling conducted from 11am to 1pm. The president is elected by the members of the Legislative Assembly through a majority vote of the total membership under the AJK Constitution.
The presidential office had remained vacant since January following the death of Barrister Sultan Mahmood. After his death, then-Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar performed the functions of acting president.
The responsibility was later transferred to Chaudhry Tariq Farooq after he was elected speaker of the Legislative Assembly on August 25.
Naqi, a former minister and senior PML-N politician from Sudhnoti district, was nominated by the ruling party for the constitutional office. Akbar, a senior PPP parliamentarian and former speaker, contested the election against him.
The election was held nearly eight months after the presidential office fell vacant.
The AJK Assembly has 53 seats in total, although seven constituencies remain unrepresented following the postponement of polling in parts of Poonch division.
