AJK Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Lateef Akbar administered the oath in a ceremony held in Muzaffarabad.
The event was attended by the governors of Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, along with PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, senior party leader Faryal Talpur, and various civil-military officials.
Following the oath-taking, Rathore expressed gratitude to the PPP leadership — including President Asif Ali Zardari and Faryal Talpur — for placing their trust in him.
"I pay tribute to the Pakistan Army for defending the nation with their sacrifices," he said, adding that the PPP was committed to rebuilding the party’s bond with the people of AJK.
AJK’s political awareness unmatched
Addressing the gathering, PPP Chairman Bilawal congratulated the people of AJK, saying that “politics has finally been restored” in the region.
He praised the “unmatched political awareness” of Kashmiris and noted that Rathore had witnessed the public’s protests firsthand and now carried their trust.
“The promises Faisal Rathore made to you are a trust placed with me,” Bilawal said, urging the new prime minister to deliver on his commitments. “You must resolve the issues of the people,” he added.
Bilawal said that when elected representatives fail to speak for their people, citizens are compelled to fight for their own rights. “Now in Muzaffarabad, your representative is Faisal Rathore,” he told the crowd, vowing that the AJK government would not operate “from behind closed doors.”
Turning to India, Bilawal said Pakistan’s stance after its conflict with India “remains clear before the world.”
He accused New Delhi of “hiding from global scrutiny,” citing the Pahalgam incident in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
He maintained that the US and other countries would continue reminding India that “seven of its aircraft were downed” by the Pakistan Air Force.
He further alleged that India was attempting to undermine the historic bond between Pakistan and Kashmir, and claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “avoiding the world.”
“I want to tell the Modi government: you have lost wars — and now you will lose your conspiracies too,” Bilawal declared.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif phoned the newly elected AJK premier to congratulate him. Shehbaz said that uplifting the people of AJK remained one of the federal government’s top priorities.
“We are determined to work with the AJK government for the welfare, economic development and security of the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir,” he said and assured that his government will extend all-out cooperation in this regard.
After the oath, Rathore has become the 16th AJK PM and the fourth of the current assembly.
Those who have served in the top post during the current assembly’s tenure, apart from Haq, include Abdul Qayyum Khan and Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan.
Anwarul Haq's ouster
The AJK legislative body on Monday voted to remove Haq from the PM's post, after PPP formally submitted a no-confidence motion against him.
A total of 36 lawmakers, including those from the PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supported the no-confidence motion against the ex-PM, while two opposed it.
The PPP had moved to consolidate its government in the autonomous region shortly after President Zardari revealed the political strategy last month.
The party bolstered its strength in the Legislative Assembly when 10 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmakers joined the PPP on October 26 during a meeting with President Zardari’s sister, Talpur, at Zardari House in Islamabad.
Among those who joined the PPP were Muhammad Hussain, Chaudhry Yasir, Chaudhry Muhammad Akhlaq, Chaudhry Arshad, Chaudhry Muhammad Rasheed, Zafar Iqbal Malik, Faheem Akhtar Rabbani, Abdul Majid Khan, Muhammad Akbar Ibrahim, and Asim Sharif Butt.
Later, the PML-N also tendered its support for the no-confidence motion, but decided against joining the government's fold.