MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider inducted on Thursday three more ministers into his cabinet, raising its strength to 12.
He also appointed a senior adviser with the status of minister.
The new ministers — Chaudhry Mohammad Saeed from Mirpur and Nasir Hussain Dar and Syed Shaukat Ali Shah from the Pakistan-based Kashmiri refugees areas — were administered the oath of their office by President Sardar Mohammad Masood Khan.
The oath-taking ceremony was held at the president’s secretariat and attended, among others, by PM Haider, Legislative Assembly Speaker Shah Ghulam Qadir and cabinet members.
While Mr Shah has served as minister in some previous governments, Mr Saeed and Mr Dar have returned to the AJK Assembly for the first time.
Mr Saeed, a former president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, caused an upset in the July polls by defeating PTI’s AJK chief Barrister Sultan Mahmood.
Similarly, Mr Dar, who is settled in Lahore, clinched a seat that had previously been bagged by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in 2006 and 2011.
Mr Dar, who is said to be close to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, is elder brother of Kiran Dar, a PML-N MNA.
The portfolios of the new ministers were not announced.
Later, the prime minister administered the oath of office to Sardar Khan Bahadur Khan as his senior adviser at the PM Secretariat.
Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2016
