AJK Prime Minister Iftikhar Gillani forms eight-member cabinet

Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Iftikhar Gillani has formed a relatively small cabinet, appointing eight lawmakers as ministers without portfolios.

Seven of the ministers were directly elected, while one entered the cabinet through an indirect election. They took their oaths at a ceremony held at the Presidency, with acting President Chaudhry Tariq Farooq administering the oath in the presence of Gillani.

PML-N’s regional president Shah Ghulam Qadir also attended the ceremony. Qadir had initially been considered a possible successor to the prime minister, but opposed Gillani’s nomination by the party leadership. He did not attend Gillani’s election as leader of the house or his swearing-in ceremony on Aug. 28.

The appointees include Raja Saqib Majeed and Dr Mustafa Bashir Abbasi from Muzaffarabad, Sardar Mir Akbar from Bagh, Raja Riasat and Raja Umair Naeem from Kotli, Waqar Noor from Bhimber, and Chaudhry Azhar Sadiq from Mirpur. The source text cuts off while identifying the eighth cabinet member.