E-Paper
Farooq Haider is 'PM' of Pakistani Kashmir
Farooq Haider of the Muslim Conference is the new "prime minister" of Pakistani Kashmir by virtue of his election Thursday as leader of the house in the legislative assembly.
Farooq Haider of the Muslim Conference is the new "prime minister" of Pakistani Kashmir by virtue of his election Thursday as leader of the house in the legislative assembly.
Farooq secured 29 votes, while his party rival and acting "prime minister" Yaqoob Khan got 19 votes.
Earlier, Yaqoob Khan had advised "President" Zulqarnain Khan against summoning the assembly session. Muslim Conference chief Ateeq Ahmed didn't agree with this.
Ahmed told Geo News that the "president" could postpone the session on the advice of the "prime minister" but not on the demand of any candidate. Yaqoob Khan was a candidate and, therefore, his advice could not be treated as that of a "prime minister".
Yaqoob Khan had resigned last week to prevent what he termed "horse trading" in view of a threatened no-confidence motion.
Ahead of Thursday's voting, security was beefed up in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir. There was snap checking at the entry points to the capital while special security passes were issued for entering the assembly secretariat.
