Bilawal says PPP is capable of forming government in AJK

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has claimed that the party is in a strong position to form the government in Azad Jammu and Kashmir as the incumbent prime minister faces a vote of no confidence.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Friday, Bilawal said that PPP would serve the people of AJK during the remaining tenure of the legislature. “I promise the people of Kashmir that I will not disappoint you. There is a political solution for every problem in Kashmir and finding solutions has always been the identity of the PPP,” he said.

Bilawal said PPP’s foundation was laid on the Kashmir issue and the party represented the people of Kashmir ‘for three generations’ at all forums. “The prime minister and our members of the legislature will remain available to the people. If the people are not served, the responsibility will lie with Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari,” he added.

Read more: PPP secures simple majority to form government in AJK

He also dismissed the suggestion that decisions regarding AJK leadership would be taken from the capital. “The name of the prime minister of Azad Kashmir will be announced from Kashmir, not from Islamabad,” he said.

The PPP chairman recalled that the party had fully contested the previous AJK election. “At that time, Imran Khan’s government was in power and the role of the establishment was ahead of everyone. Despite these circumstances, we won the election. But our victory turned into defeat overnight,” Bilawal said. He said that non-political decision-making created a political vacuum in Kashmir, causing damage to the region.

Bilawal reiterated that the PPP continued to represent the people in the assembly and has now secured the numbers to form the government. “We will do our best to fulfill the aspirations of the people of Kashmir. The remaining term of this assembly will be a test for us,” he said.

The PPP earlier announced its intention to form the government in AJK during a meeting chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari. The party’s Azad Kashmir parliamentary group also met in Islamabad to discuss the political landscape.

On 26 October, ten members of the PTI’s forward bloc in AJK announced their decision to join the PPP, enabling the party to obtain the required majority. The following day, the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) agreed to move a no-confidence motion against the AJK government. PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal said his party would support the motion from the opposition benches.

But a day later, in a surprise move, the PTI announced that it would distance itself from the opposition alliance’s no-confidence motion against the AJK prime minister and the subsequent process to elect a new prime minister, terming it a “political game” aimed at undermining public representation.