AJK High Court stays PM election till Monday

MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) High Court on Friday issued a stay order against the election process of the prime minister in the Legislative Assembly on a writ petition filed by opposition leader Chaudhry Latif Akbar and others.

Earlier, the AJK Legislative Assembly was summoned by the speaker on a no-confidence motion, but Prime Minister Abdul Qayyum Niazi resigned from office Thursday night, and issued a schedule for the election after suspending two rules of procedure.

The motion to suspend the rules was moved by member Assembly Abdul Majid Khan and was adopted by the House with a majority vote during a protest by the opposition benches. The speaker, while directing the Secretary Assembly to issue the schedule for filing of nomination papers, prorogued the session till 4:30 pm to meet again to elect the prime minister.

Meanwhile, a writ petition filed by opposition leader Chaudhry Latif Akbar and others was under hearing in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir High Court against the procedural matters. The High Court reserved its verdict and at 2:30 pm issued an interim order, staying the electoral process in the Assembly till Monday.

The ruling party and premiership candidate Sardar Tanveer Ilyas has challenged the same order in the Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.