No-trust against AJK PM to be tabled within four days: law minister

MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Law Minister Abdul Waheed said on Sunday that the no-confidence motion against incumbent Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq would be presented within three to four days.

His comments come amid ongoing political uncertainty in the autonomous region, as Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari asserted that his party had secured the required numbers to form the government in AJK.

The AJK law minister, in a statement, said the no-confidence motion had been delayed due to consultations with stakeholders.

Waheed, however, assured that the PPP possessed the numerical majority to form the government without any coalition.

The AJK law minister said that the PPP’s seats had risen to 27 after members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) forward bloc, led by Barrister Sultan Mahmood, joined its ranks.

Waheed said that members of the PTI forward bloc could not be subject to the floor-crossing law, noting that the party had not been registered in AJK for the last two years.

The minister asserted that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) would join the PPP in the no-confidence motion, despite the party’s announcement that it would sit on the opposition benches.

The PPP initiated the process to form its government in the autonomous region soon after President Asif Ali Zardari announced the political move.

The party strengthened its position in the Legislative Assembly after 10 PTI legislators joined the PPP on October 26 in a meeting with President Zardari’s sister, Faryal Talpur, at Zardari House in Islamabad.

Soon after, the PPP and PMLN jointly filed a no-confidence motion against AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq.

In an exclusive interview with Geo News on October 29, PPP AJK Secretary-General Faisal Mumtaz Rathore confirmed that his party had the “open support of 37 members”.

Rathore said that the party leadership would announce the name of the new AJK premier within the next two days.

However, the AJK law minister said that the decision regarding the new Leader of the House would be taken by the PPP chairman when the no-confidence motion is moved against the incumbent prime minister.