The political landscape of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) is set for a major change as the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) moves forward with its no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq. The motion, submitted in the AJK Legislative Assembly on Friday, will be taken up today (Monday), marking a critical moment for the region’s coalition government.
The PPP has already secured the support of 27 members, the number required to pass the motion. The party has nominated its Secretary-General, Faisal Rathore, as the next Prime Minister. If the motion succeeds, Faisal Rathore will replace Anwarul Haq and lead the new coalition government.
To strengthen their position, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, urging the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to support the move.
The PML-N has agreed to vote in favor of the no-confidence motion but has chosen not to join the new PPP-led government. Senior PML-N leaders Shah Ghulam Qadir and Raja Farooq Haider have already signed the motion along with 23 PPP lawmakers.
On the other hand, the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), along with the Muslim Conference and the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Party, has announced that they will abstain from the proceedings.
In a notable development, two members of the PTI’s Forward Bloc—Diwan Ali Chughtai and Taqdees Kausar Gillani—have formally joined the PPP after meeting Faryal Talpur, increasing the party’s strength in the assembly to 29 members.
PPP senior leader Chaudhry Qasim Majeed, a member of Anwarul Haq’s coalition, expressed confidence that the motion would pass comfortably with additional support from the PML-N. The motion accuses the current Prime Minister of damaging the constitutional and democratic structure of the state through his governance and political approach.
Prime Minister Anwarul Haq, however, rejected the allegations during a television interview, calling them baseless and poorly drafted. He stated that those who prepared the accusations did not understand their own claims.
In other news read more about No-Confidence Move Against AJK PM Enters Final Stage, Voting Set for Tomorrow
According to the AJK constitution, if the no-confidence motion is approved, the candidate named in the resolution—Faisal Rathore—will automatically be elected as the new Prime Minister. If this happens, Rathore will become the fourth AJK Prime Minister since 2021.
