He received 33 votes in the newly formed Legislative Assembly of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, whereas joint opposition's candidate Chaudhry Latif Akbar garnered 15 votes.
Niazi succeeds PML-N's Raja Farooq Haider, whose tenure in the AJK PM's office had ended on July 30.
Earlier in the day, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry announced that Prime Minister Imran Khan had nominated Niazi as the ruling party's candidate for the position.
In a tweet, the minister said that PM Imran had made the decision after extensive consultations and reviewing all the proposals. "He is a dynamic and genuine political activist and his heart beats for the people," he said.Azhar Mashwani, Punjab chief minister's focal person for digital media, added that Niazi was a member of the AJK Legislative Assembly from border area Abbaspur Poonch.
"He is also the central joint secretary of the PTI," he said.Imran Khan had on Friday and Saturday interviewed no less than seven candidates for the position of AJK premier. The prime minister had put various questions to them, relating to their future strategy and views on environment, tourism and national and international issues.
According to a source, PM Imran had expressed displeasure over the fact that he was being contacted by different quarters that were exerting pressure to select particular candidates.
Niazi — who won the recent AJK polls from the LA-18 constituency — was not among the leading candidates for the position initially.
PTI clinches most seats to form next govt
According to the official results of the July 25 polls, the PTI clinched 26 general seats of the AJK Legislative Assembly, followed by 11 by the PPP, six by PML-N and one each by state-based AJK Muslim Conference (AJKMC) and Jammu Kashmir Peoples Party (JKPP).
Three more PTI candidates were elected unopposed on Sunday against five seats reserved for women, in addition to one each from the PPP and the PML-N.
On Monday, the ruling had secured another three reserved seats, raising its strength to 32 in the 53-member house.
Following the PTI's victory, PM Imran had congratulated the successful candidates and thanked the people of AJK for placing their trust in the PTI, which resulted in the PTI’s electoral victory.
The new speaker, deputy speaker and 49 newly elected members took oath of their respective offices during last session of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly under the chair of outgoing speaker Shah Ghulam Qadir on Tuesday.
PTI candidate Anwarul Haq won the election for speaker with 32 votes, whereas PTI candidate Chaudhry Riaz Gujar won the election for deputy speaker, also with 32 votes.
Earlier, outgoing speaker Shah Ghulam Qadir administered the oath to the newly appointed members after notification of their election was read out by the Assembly secretary. Three newly elected members were not present to take the oath, namely PPP members Chaudhary Yaseen who has been elected on two seats, PPP member Chaudhry Javed Budhanvi, who is said to be sick due to Covid-19, and Muslim Conference leader Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan.
After the oath taking, the speaker adjourned the session till 2pm for the filing of nomination papers for the election of assembly speaker and deputy speaker. PTI nominated former speaker Chaudhary Anwarul Haq for the office of speaker and Chaudhry Riaz Gujar for the office of deputy speaker while opposition parties nominated PPP’s Faisal Mumtaz Rathore for the office of speaker and PML-N member elected on reserved seats, Nasaran Abbasi, for the office of Deputy Speaker.
Following appointment as speaker, Anwarul Haq spoke to the media. He said that the House will be run in an “impartial” manner and that he will do his utmost to faithfully discharge his duties. He asked the people not to pay heed to any rumours circulating about the election for the prime minister. “It will be Prime Minister Imran Khan’s decision,” he said.
The leader of the house, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir prime minister, will be elected today and will take oath of the office in the evening. The prime minister will not be elected by secret ballot, the Assembly secretary said.