PPP legislator Qasim Majeed moved a no-confidence motion against Azad Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq in the Legislative Assembly.
The resolution for a vote of no confidence against Haq was presented to the Assembly secretariat on Friday afternoon. The resolution was signed by 25 legislators, 23 from the PPP and two from the PML-N.
Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar presides over today’s session. Apart from the PPP and PML-N members, opposition leader Khawaja Farooq Ahmad of the PTI is also attending.
Soon after the session began, Prime Minister Haq also reached the house along with four legislators. He approached Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, the PPP candidate for the top job and his likely replacement, and exchanged greetings with him.
The required number
Meanwhile, the PPP appears set to elevate its regional general secretary, Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, to the coveted position.
On Sunday, two PTI legislators, said to be from the party’s forward bloc, Primary Education Minister Deewan Ali Chughtai and Small Industries Corporation Minister Taqdees Kausar Gillani, announced their decision to join the PPP after meeting Faryal Talpur, taking their own support base to 29.
By October, the PPP’s ranks in the AJK Legislative Assembly had swelled to 27 after 10 lawmakers from the PTI’s forward bloc joined the party.
The AJK Legislative Assembly has 52 members and to achieve a simple majority, a party needs the support of 27 members.
According to the AJK Constitution, a vote of no confidence against the incumbent prime minister automatically counts as a vote in favor of the legislator proposed as his successor in the same resolution. Therefore, if the motion is successful, which appears to be the likely scenario, Rathore would be elected the new chief minister, fourth in the sitting assembly since its installation in 2021.
Changing MP
With almost six months left in the assembly’s term after his election, Rathore will be AJK’s fourth chief minister in four years.
In August 2021, the PTI elected Abdul Qayyum Niazi as Prime Minister after the then Prime Minister Imran Khan appointed him to the position. Niazi had polled 35 votes against joint opposition candidate Latif Akbar, who polled only 15 votes, in the 53-seat house.
After nine months, Niazi resigned from the position and was replaced by PTI regional president Sardar Tanveer Ilyas.
In April 2023, Tanveer was disqualified by the full bench of the AJK High Court from being a member of the legislative assembly for contempt. He was then replaced by Haq.
