Islamabad: Prominent Kashmiri politician Raja Farooq Haider was nominated on Wednesday for the post of prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), the official name of the Pakistan-administered part of the disputed Himalayan region.
The decision was taken at a meeting of AJK chapter of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) held in Islamabad under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
It followed AJK legislative assembly elections on July 21, in which the PML-N scored a landslide victory, bagging 32 seats out of 41 contested at the polls.
The meeting was attended by federal PML-N leadership and newly elected members of AJK legislative assembly.
Haider, 61, who belongs to a well-known political family in AJK, previously served as state premier in 2009-10. Before joining PML-N, he was with the Muslim Conference party.
Addressing the meeting, Sharif, said Pakistan would continue to extend moral, diplomatic and political support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle to achieve their United Nations-recognised right to self-determination.
The prime minister said Pakistan would continue to effectively highlight the Kashmir issue at all international forums and press for implementation of related UN Security Council resolutions envisaging a referendum in the disputed region.
“It is the basic right of the Kashmiris that the Kashmir dispute should be resolved according to the UN resolutions and aspirations of the Kashmiri people,” he said.
Speaking to reporters after his nomination, the AJK premier-designate he said merit, good governance and zero tolerance for corruption would be his agenda.
