• 10 legislators, including ministers, join the party; Leader trusts that they will be able to form a government without the support of ‘N’
• PM Shehbaz forms panel for talks with PPP; PML-N regional president rules out plan to join AJK
ISLAMABAD: The PPP appeared to be in a comfortable position to take over in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) after as many as 10 legislators from the AJK Legislative Assembly joined the party.
The PPP now appears set to install its own man to lead the regional government in light of the imminent departure of current Prime Minister Anwarul Haq through a no-confidence or resignation motion.
The plan to form the regional government was approved by President Asif Ali Zardari, who met AJK lawmakers on Saturday, and the decision apparently led to lawmakers from the “forward bloc” joining the PPP, a coalition partner of the PML-N at the Centre.
If things go according to the PPP’s plan, AJK will have its fourth prime minister in the four and a half years of the assembly.
After his meeting with AJK legislators, President Zardari also spoke to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to reassure him about his party’s decision and strategy to form a government in Azad Kashmir.
Later, the prime minister formed a three-member committee, comprising Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Sanaullah and Amir Muqam, to discuss matters related to the change of government in Kashmir. The PML-N team in talks with the PPP is expected to seek a say in administrative and financial matters in Azad Kashmir.
On the other hand, the PML-N regional leadership said it would not be part of the next government, citing previous failed experiments by the coalition government. AJK PML-N President Shah Ghulam Qadir said Sunrise who would sit in the opposition seats.
In light of a possible vote against the AJK chief minister, he said the PML-N had not even promised to vote against Haq if a no-confidence motion against him was brought in the house. “The experiment of the coalition government has failed and we have decided to sit in the opposition seats,” he remarked.
A PPP expert, however, said the party could sack the AJK chief minister even without the support of the PML-N, which has nine members in the house. He said the party had the support of at least 30 members in the house, more than the 27 needed to unseat the AJK prime minister. He said Sardar Atiq of the Muslim Conference and Hasan Ibrahim of the Jammu Kashmir People’s Party will also support the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Haq.
Lawmakers join the PPP
In their separate meetings with Faryal Talpur, who heads the PPP’s women’s wing and the AJK’s political affairs wing, at Zardari House in Islamabad, Ch Yasir Sultan, (Minister) Sardar Muhammad Hussain, (Minister) Ch Muhammad Ikhlaq, (Minister) Ch Arshad Hussain, (Minister) and Ch Muhammad Rasheed (Minister) announced their decision to join the APP.
Similarly, AJK Higher Education Minister Zafar Iqbal Malik also met Ms Talpur and formally announced his decision to join the PPP.
Another group of AJK ministers, including Faheem Akhtar Rabbani, Muhammad Asim Sharif, Ch Muhammad Akbar and Abdul Majid Khan, met Faryal Talpur to announce their decision to join the PPP. Senior PPP leader Ch. Muhammad Riaz was present in all these meetings.
numbers game
The AJK Legislative Assembly has 52 members and to achieve a simple majority, a party needs the support of 27 members. Currently, the PPP has 17 seats, the PML-N nine, the PTI four, and the Muslim Conference and the Jammu Kashmir People’s Party each have one member. The PPP’s ranks swelled to 27 after ten more lawmakers from the forward bloc joined it on Sunday. The new members announced their decision a day after Zardari met lawmakers from his AJK party and reaffirmed his commitment to the policy of reconciliation and tolerance. Saturday’s meeting reviewed governance challenges in AJK, the evolving political landscape and the party’s strategy to form a new government in the region.
Sources said President Zardari informed the AJK parliamentary party about the decision to take over the AJK government, calling it “an extraordinary and challenging step” for the PPP. “The PPP is taking responsibility under difficult circumstances, but I am confident that the party will deliver in AJK just as it has done in the past,” Zardari said.
Sources said Ch Yaseen is likely to be nominated for the coveted position. However, President Asif Zardari is expected to finalize the election of the party’s candidate for the post of AJK prime minister after further consultations.
With almost six months left in the assembly’s term, this will be AJK’s fourth prime minister in as many years. In August 2021, the PTI elected Abdul Qayyum Niazi as Prime Minister after then Prime Minister Imran Khan appointed him to the position.
Niazi polled 35 votes against joint opposition candidate Latif Akbar, who polled only 15 votes, in the 53-seat chamber. After nine months, Niazi resigned from the position and was replaced by PTI regional president Sardar Tanveer Ilyas.
In April 2023, Mr. Ilyas was disqualified by the full Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) High Court from being a member of the legislative assembly for contempt. He was then replaced by Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, who is likely to be replaced by a PPP candidate after spending more than two years in power.
Published in Dawn, October 27, 2025
