Eight-member AJK Cabinet takes oath in Muzaffarabad

MUZAFFARABAD, September 4: An eight-member cabinet of the newly formed government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) took oath of office on Friday, completing the first phase of cabinet formation under Prime Minister Barrister Iftikhar Gillani.

Acting President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Chaudhry Tariq Farooq administered the oath to the newly appointed ministers at a ceremony held at the President’s House in Muzaffarabad. Prime Minister Iftikhar Gillani was also present on the occasion.

The ministers who took oath included Sardar Mir Akbar Khan, Colonel (retd) Waqar Noor, Dr Mustafa Bashir Abbasi, Chaudhry Azhar Sadiq, Raja Saqib Majeed, Raja Riyasat, Umair Naeem and Abdul Rehman Arain.

The ceremony was attended by former AJK prime minister Raja Farooq Haider, PML-N’s AJK president Shah Ghulam Qadir, members of the Legislative Assembly and senior government officials.

Shah Ghulam Qadir’s presence at the ceremony assumes particular political significance. He had earlier opposed Gillani’s nomination for the office of AJK prime minister and had not participated in the election of the leader of the House or Gillani’s swearing-in ceremony on August 28. His attendance at the cabinet oath-taking ceremony indicates a visible engagement with the newly formed PML-N-led government.

Of the eight ministers, Dr Mustafa Bashir Abbasi, Waqar Noor, Sardar Mir Akbar Khan and Chaudhry Azhar Sadiq have previously served as ministers, while the remaining four are joining the cabinet for the first time.

The newly inducted ministers have initially been appointed without portfolios. The portfolios are expected to be allocated by the AJK government in the next phase, after which the ministers will formally take charge of their respective departments.

The eight-member cabinet represents the first phase of the new government’s formation. The PML-N emerged as the largest parliamentary party in the recent AJK elections and subsequently formed the government under Prime Minister Iftikhar Gillani.

With the cabinet now sworn in, the government is expected to move towards assigning portfolios and setting its administrative and development priorities. The immediate focus is likely to be on strengthening governance, completing the remaining government appointments and implementing the PML-N-led administration’s policy agenda in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.