Retired diplomat elected PoK president

A retired diplomat was elected president of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir by the newly constituted Legislative Assembly of the PoK.

A report by the Associated Press of Pakistan, the state-run news agency, from Muzaffarabad, said Masood Khan, who belongs to a suburb of Rawalakot city in the PoK, was nominated by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) as its presidential candidate. The party led by the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif captured power in the PoK for the first time, winning 41 of the 49 seats in the Assembly.

Mr. Masood, who will have a five-year term, secured 42 votes while rival candidate Chaudhry Latif Akbar got six votes. The Muslim Conference and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf boycotted the election.

Mr. Khan joined Pakistan Foreign Service in 1980 and retired in 2015 after serving as Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN.