MUZAFFARABAD, NOV 17: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Monday voted to remove Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq from his post, replacing him with Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Raja Faisal Rathore.
PPP’s candidate for the premier’s slot, Rathore, received 36 votes, with two against.
Overall, Rathore is the 16th AJK PM and the fourth of the current assembly. Those who have served in the top post during the incumbent assembly’s tenure, apart from Haq, include Abdul Qayyum Khan and Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan.
Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar presided over Monday’s session, attended by lawmakers of the PPP, PML-N, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, including Leader of the Opposition, Khawaja Farooq Ahmad.
Strict security measures were put in place at the Assembly Secretariat, Ministers’ Block, and Prime Minister’s Secretariat.
Speaking on the floor of the assembly, PM Haq said that no single individual could be held solely responsible for the “destruction of the constitution and administrative system,” noting that members of his cabinet also share responsibility for governance outcomes.
Haq said he was placing his remarks on record, expressing gratitude to the assembly that “gave him political life.”
He said that no formula for the division of Kashmir could succeed under his leadership and described signing off on ending reserved seats for refugees as “political death.”
The political system could only survive, he said, if the region’s borders are protected. “Without Pakistan’s armed forces, nothing will remain.”
On recent political developments, Haq said that he would have supported Rathore for the prime minister’s post had the elections been held.
“I was once asked to dissolve the assembly by February 15 this year, but I refused to do so,” he added.
The PPP had moved to consolidate its government in the autonomous region shortly after President Asif Ali 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, Faryal 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.
