AJK PM’s stance is undemocratic

Viewpoint

ISLAMABAD: In the intensified tussle, Azad Kashmir Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed has taken an undemocratic step by declaring that he is writing a letter to Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif to complain against the meddling of the federal government in Azad Kashmir.

He wants the chief commander to proceed against certain federal ministers and close aides of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in order to stop them from undertaking aggressive activities that his government doesn’t approve.

The demand is unfair and unjust. Chaudhry Majeed would have acted prudently and democratically had he made such an appeal to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a meeting with him. He is yet to come out of the old mindset although the situation has largely transformed.

He doesn’t remember that it was not long time ago that Nawaz Sharif had strictly stopped his party lawmakers from becoming part of a move to oust Chaudhry Majeed. At the time, the State prime minister’s exit appeared imminent as the opposition parties had mustered enough numerical strength to carry the no-confidence resolution in the Legislative Assembly.

Why did Nawaz Sharif do so? He wanted to allow the Azad Kashmir premier to have his full term and let the people judge his performance in the next parliamentary elections. Chaudhry Majeed was required to explore other options, obviously not the one he has explored, if his complaints had not been attended to by the prime minister.

The war of words between the PML-N and the Chaudhry Majeed government intensified after a set of federal government leaders including Ministers Pervaiz Rashid and Birjees Tahir and Special Assistant Dr Asif Kirmani started addressing rallies in Azad Kashmir to brace up for the forthcoming elections.

These federal leaders bitterly lampooned the Azad Kashmir prime minister and accused him of massive corruption. The tirade was aptly responded by the Azad Kashmir government but in some cases it took the lead forcing the other side to react. Whether these attacks and counter-attacks were fair or uncalled for, they are not unusual on the eve of the elections when the tempers always ran high and politicians say things in the heat of moment that they generally don’t. They also later claim that their election speeches contained abnormal remarks.

The fierce verbal fight, which was already going on between the PML-N and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) mainly due to the actions being taken by different federal agencies in Sindh, has spilled over to Azad Kashmir before the upcomingpolls. It further intensified after killing of a PPP worker in Kotli on Saturday. As it happens in politics, both sides blamed each other for the bloody episode. Only an impartial investigation by an independent forum will be in a position to pin the responsibility of the incident.

More than needed heat has been generated even when the election campaign has not been formally kicked off in Azad Kashmir. The polls are still a few months away. Considering the present tempo, it is not ruled out that the electioneering will be too rowdy and unruly. It is the bounden duty of all sides to avert creeping in of violence.

As far as the PML-N is concerned, it has made public its team that will run the campaign. Dr Kirmani, Pervaiz Rashid, Birjees Tahir and its prominent leaders of its Azad Kashmir chapter are its main players. Nawaz Sharif will definitely stay away from this show. The PML-N’s endeavours clearly demonstrate that it wants to win the elections by using its federal clout.

The leaders of the PPP Azad Kashmir have the exclusive responsibility on their shoulders to spearhead the campaign as they will remain deprived of any help from the party’s central figures like Bilawal due to security and other reasons. Their chief Asif Ali Zardari is away from this kind of politics since long.

The third important party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), is yet to jump in the election campaign. Its participation will significantly add to the noise. PTI Chairman Imran Khan will lead the show as he recently announced. His obvious target will be both the PML-N and PPP alike.

These parties are going to contest the polls independently and no election alliance seems imminent. All these forces believe that they can win the polls on their own and that they don’t need support of the other.