MUZAFFARABAD (AJK)    -    Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) or­igin Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq was sworn in as the 15th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in the State metropolis on Thurs­day, hours after he was elected un­opposed to the office by a thumping majority of the 53-seat Azad Jammu Kashmir Legislative Assembly.

AJK President Barrister Sultan Mahmood administered the oath to the new Prime Minister Ch. Anwar ul Haq at a ceremony in the New Prime Minister House.

The ceremony was largely at­tended by the elected represen­tatives including the AJK Legisla­tive Assembly members belonging to all three major parties including PTI, PML N and PPP besides high ranking officials, councilors, social and political workers from various parts of AJK and the notables from the state Capital town. 

Earlier, Ch. Anwar ul Haq bagged 48 votes in the 53-member House in an election also participated by the 19-member opposition, compris­ing Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). A total of 48 members be­longing to PTI, PPP and PML (N) polled their votes electing Haq as the Prime Minis­ter unopposed. 

The 29 out of a total of 31 PTI members of the AJK Legislative Assembly cast their votes in fa­vor of Ch. Anwar ul Haq electing him Prime Minister.

The only MLAs belonging to All Jammu Kashmir Muslim Confer­ence and Jammu Kashmir Peoples Party – Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan and Sardar Hassan Ibrahim Khan respectively did not polled their votes. Likewise, the MLAs Mrs. Sha­hida Sagheer and Ali Shan Soni, be­longing to PTI AJK, abstained from casting their vote in favor of the only candidate Ch. Anwar ul Haq, who was later declared elected un­opposed as the Prime Minister of Azad government of the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier, while addressing Azad Jam­mu Kashmir Legislative Assembly soon after his election as the Prime minister, Chaudhry Anwarul Haq said that there would be no justifica­tion for him to stay in power provid­ed he fails to serve the masses and establish the rule of law in the state.

“The Prime Minister who has been elected today, will not be removed by the court or the house, but if he fails to serve the people, he will leave the post himself”, he said.

Reiterating his commitment to ful­filling his obligations as leader of the House, the PM made it clear that in­stead of clinging to power he would prefer to resign the moment he felt that he was not able to serve the people. He said that during his two-year term as a speaker he played an important role in the establishment of the rule of law.

Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwar Haq said that besides the House (legislative assembly), every citizen of the state has the right to hold him accountable in case there was a con­tradiction in his words and deeds.

Regarding the Kashmiris’ ongo­ing liberation struggle, the PM said that he would try to play his consti­tutional role effectively to strength­en the Kashmir cause both at nation­al and international level.

Thanking opposition parties for their all-out support, the PM said that he contested the election as an independent candidate but he got the power with the support of PDM.

He, however, maintained that he would not have contested the elec­tion if his party (PTI) was able to win the election. Haq also thanked the PTI lawmakers for reposing their trust and confidence in his leadership.