- The chairman approved a vote of no confidence.
- PML-N forms committee headed by Ahsan Iqbal.
- AJK Assembly needs 27 seats to govern.
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari spoke on phone with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to discuss the political situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), sources said Pakinomist news on Sunday as the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) moves to form a new government in the area.
According to sources, President Zardari took Prime Minister Shehbaz into confidence on PPP’s decision and strategy for government formation in AJK.
After the call, the prime minister directed the PML-N committee on AJK affairs – headed by Ahsan Iqbal and including Rana Sanaullah and Amir Muqam – to hold talks with the PPP. The committee has started consultations with PML-N’s AJK chapter, the sources added.
Separately, PML-N parliamentary leader and former AJK chief minister Raja Farooq Haider reiterated his party’s stand that it will sit in opposition and will not be part of any government formation in AJK.
He told the party’s parliamentary meeting that the decision to remain in the opposition is firm and that there is no room for change.
In Islamabad, PPP leaders held separate meetings chaired by President Zardari and by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari as the party moved to finalize its action plan, sources said on Saturday.
The session at the President’s House – attended by Bilawal, Faryal Talpur, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Qamar Zaman Kaira – approved moving a no-confidence motion against the incumbent AJK premier, sources said. The President is expected to finalize the party’s candidate for the AJK premier after further consultations.
Party sources confirmed that Bilawal would formally announce the government formation plan on Monday. PPP insiders said the party is considering Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin and Chaudhry Latif Akbar among the names for the AJK premiership. Chaudhry Yasin told reporters that the party had taken a “final decision” to form the government and that the leadership would decide on the nominee.
The AJK Legislative Assembly has 52 members and a simple majority requires 27 votes. Currently, the PPP has 17 seats, the PML-N nine, and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf four; the Muslim Conference and the Jammu Kashmir Peoples Party have one member each.
A 20-member advance block also exists inside the assembly. To reach the threshold of 27 members, the PPP needs further support; with PML-N support, its total would rise to 26 seats. Since PML-N’s AJK President Shah Ghulam Qadir has announced that his party will sit in opposition, the PPP has intensified contact with members of the forward bloc to secure the necessary numbers for government formation.
The sources said AJK premier Chaudhry Anwarul Haq has begun consultations amid an expected internal reshuffle that could happen either through resignation or a vote of no confidence.
The premier is likely to make a major decision within 48 hours, according to sources. PPP leaders said they have secured the numbers needed to table and pass a no-confidence motion if the incumbent refuses to step down, although the party has yet to publicly demonstrate the necessary assembly strength.
Kaira, speaking outside Zardari House, described the situation in AJK as “worrying for all parties” and said the party would hold further consultations with the president before making formal public announcements.
He added that while there was talk that the PML-N had decided to sit in opposition, the PPP had not received a formal communication on that matter at that time.
With talks underway and the PPP leadership having endorsed a no-confidence motion, party sources said an important political development is expected in the coming days. Bilawal is due to make a formal announcement on Monday about the party’s plans and the name of its chosen candidate.
