An 18-member Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) cabinet took oath of office on Monday, marking a key step in the formation of the Pakistan Peoples Party–led government in the region.

Due to the illness of AJK President Barrister Sultan Mahmood, Acting President and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Chaudhry Latif Akbar administered the oath to the newly appointed ministers.

Prime Minister Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore also attended the ceremony held at the Aiwan-e-Sadr in Muzaffarabad.

Sixteen ministers and two advisers were sworn in, with the prime minister administering the oath to the two advisers separately.

In the new cabinet arrangement, no representation was given to the members elected from the refugee seats.

The move follows the agreement reached between the AJK government and the Awami Action Committee under the directives of the federal government.

The oath-taking ceremony was attended by former AJK prime ministers Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob and Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, the chief secretary, inspector general of police, secretaries, department heads, and party workers.

Those who took oath as ministers include: Mian Abdul Waheed, Sardar Javed Ayub, Javed Budhanvi, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Diwan Ali Chughtai, Chaudhry Arshad, Chaudhry Rasheed, Chaudhry Qasim Majeed, Zia-ul-Qamar, Nabeela Ayub, Rafiq Nayar, Yasar Sultan, Syed Bazil Naqvi, Aamir Yasin, Sardar Mohammad Hussain, Chaudhry Ikhlaq, Sardar Faheem Akhtar Rabbani and Ali Shan Soni.

Sardar Ahmed Sagheer and Sardar Fahad Yaqoob took oath as advisers to the government.