MUZAFFARABAD (Dunya News) – The newly formed 20-member cabinet of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) has officially taken its oath of office at a ceremony held at the Presidential House in Muzaffarabad on Wednesday.
The oath was administered by Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Chaudhry Latif Akbar, with newly-elected Prime Minister of AJK, Sardar Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, also attending the event.
The new cabinet consists of 18 ministers and two advisors, all of whom took the oath during the ceremony.
Among the newly sworn-in ministers are Sardar Faheem Rabbani, Chaudhry Ikhlaq, Yasir Sultan, Sardar Muhammad Hussain, Nabeela Ayub, Chaudhry Rashid, Chaudhry Arshad, Javed Iqbal Budhanvi, Javed Ayub, Qasim Majeed, Rafiq Nayer, Deewan Chughtai, Malik Zafar, Ziaul Qamar, Amir Yasin, Bazil Naqvi, Mian Abdul Waheed, and Ali Shan Soni. In addition to the ministers, two advisors also took their oaths of office, with the prime minister administering the oath for the advisory roles.
Sources indicate that the formation of the new cabinet is expected to strengthen the government and provide political stability, enabling the government to move forward with its planned initiatives.
The formation process faced delays, as the initial proposal for only ten ministers was rejected by the assembly members, leading to further consultations.
These discussions were led by PPP leader Faryal Talpur and newly elected Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore. After finalizing the list of ministers and their assigned departments, the swearing-in ceremony was scheduled for Wednesday.