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MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly on Monday voted out Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq through a no-confidence motion and elected Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore as the new Prime Minister.
The no-confidence motion secured 36 votes in favour—backed by lawmakers from the PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)—while only two members opposed it. Rathore, the PPP’s nominee for the top office, also received 36 votes, making him the 16th Prime Minister of AJK and the fourth to assume the office during the current assembly’s tenure. Previous premiers in this term include Abdul Qayyum Khan Niazi and Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan, in addition to Anwarul Haq.
The session was chaired by Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar and attended by members of the PPP, PML-N, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), including Opposition Leader Khawaja Farooq Ahmad. Security was tightened around the Assembly Secretariat, Ministers’ Block, and the Prime Minister’s Secretariat.
Addressing the House, outgoing PM Anwarul Haq said that responsibility for the “collapse of the constitutional and administrative system” could not be attributed to any single individual, asserting that his cabinet members were equally accountable. He thanked the assembly for giving him “political life” and stated that no formula for the division of Kashmir could have been implemented under his leadership. He described his decision to abolish reserved refugee seats as “political death.”
Haq added that the region’s political structure could only endure if its borders were safeguarded, warning that “without Pakistan’s armed forces, nothing will remain.” Commenting on recent political shifts, he said he would have supported Rathore had the election for the premiership taken place under normal circumstances. He also disclosed that he was once asked to dissolve the assembly by February 15, but refused.
The PPP had been consolidating its position in AJK since President Asif Ali Zardari outlined the party’s political roadmap last month. The party strengthened its presence after 10 PTI lawmakers joined the PPP on October 26 during a meeting with Faryal Talpur at Zardari House in Islamabad. The members who switched sides included 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. Subsequently, the PML-N extended its support for the no-confidence move, although it opted not to become part of the new government.
With Rathore’s election, the PPP now formally leads the government in AJK, marking a significant political shift in the region.
