Pakistan People's Party candidate Faisal Mumtaz Rathore has been declared the winner of the LA-17 Haveli constituency in Azad Jammu and Kashmir after a recount of the votes.Rathore secured 33,872 votes, while Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz candidate Chaudhry Mohsin Uzir finished second with 32,354 votes. Independent candidate Khawaja Tariq Saeed stood third with 12,538 votes. Form 27 was issued by the returning officer of the constituency after the recount and formally confirmed Rathore's victory on the seat.

Rathore is a senior PPP politician and has served as the Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir since November 2025. He has also held several ministerial positions in the AJK government.Born on 11 April 1978, Rathore received his early education in Rawalpindi and graduated from the University of the Punjab. He comes from a political family. His father, Raja Mumtaz Hussain Rathore, served as Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir from 1990 to 1991 and later held other senior positions in the legislative assembly.

Rathore first contested an AJK election in 2006 from LA-16 Bagh-IV as a PPP candidate but was defeated by independent candidate Chaudhry Muhammad Aziz. He was elected to the AJK Legislative Assembly from the same constituency in 2011, securing 32,786 votes. He later served as minister for the Logging and Sawmills Corporation and as minister for electricity in the government of Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majid.

In March 2017, Rathore was appointed general secretary of the PPP's Azad Kashmir chapter.In April 2023, Rathore joined Haq's cabinet and was given responsibility for local government and rural development. Rathore became Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir on 17 November 2025 after securing 36 votes in the Legislative Assembly following a no-confidence motion supported by the PPP and PML-N.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)